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JOURNAL 



OF 



ARMY LIFE. 



By R. GLISAN. 







7 3 6 G .6 



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San Francisco: v. 
A. L. BANCROFT AND COxMPANY. 
1874. 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four. 

By R. GLISAN, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 






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PREFACE. 



Although the following extracts from my private journal are con- 
fined mostly to personal details of nine years service in the Military 
Department of the Government, at a period when there were no con- 
flicts excepting with the Indians, still, they may interest a few readers 
who are curious to learn something of Garrison life on the border; 
and of Oregon and Washington Territorial Indian wars from 1855 to 
1858. 

They may also serve to enlighten such persons as are ignorant of 
the privations and occasional hardships endured by military men in 
the intervening periods of great wars; and others, who imagine that 
the army, as a peace establishment, is only an expensive luxury, kept 
up for display. 

These people do not seem to be aware that even during the most 
profound national quietude, the troops are divided up into small de- 
tachments and garrisons, to stand guard on our extensive frontier, 
with the red men of the forest on the one side, and the pioneer set- 
tlers on the other; and that through their constant vigilance many 
bloody strifes between these ever-conflicting classes are prevented. 

In regard to the Washington and Oregon Territorial Indian wars, 
it will be observed that details are given of the campaign only in 
which I had some actual knowledge and experience; although general 
reference is made to many other engagements with the Indians by the 
regulars and volunteers. 

A mere summary of the incidents of Colonel Buchanan's campaign, 
would probably be more interesting to the general reader than the tedi- 



ous details given in my journal; but there doubtless are some persons 
who are desirous of knowing all the particulars of the last sanguinary- 
struggle that the Government has ever had, or probably ever will have, 
with the once warlike bands of red men of the northwest coast, who 
contended so fearlessly and savagely with the pioneer settlers. 

Yes, the last struggle — for the Snake and Modoc Indians, who 
have subsequently given trouble, were not among the belligerents in 
the general Indian war that harassed the border settlements of Oregon 
and Washington Territories, from 1855 to 1858. 

R. GLISAN. 
Portland, Oregon, April 15, 1874. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER 1. 

PAGE, 

Army Medical Board — Grades in Medical Corps— The examination a severe 
Ordeal — Depression on severing Old Ties and Associations^-Not to 
remain in Army for Life— Acting as Aid to General Childs — Pleasant 
Society at Fort McHenry and Carlisle Barracks — Comanche charge i 

CHAPTER II. 

Accompanying Recruits from Carlisle to Jefterson Barracks — By Rail, 
Canal and Steamboat — Beauty of Scenery^Prevalence of the Cholera — 
St. Louis a great Army Place 1 1 

CHAPTER III. 

By Steamboat to Fort Leavenworth — Military Stations being nuclei for 
settlements — The frequent removal of Indians by the Government, and 
their final Fate — Alcohol the Fire Brand of Indian Disturbances — Col. « 
B., of the Dragoons — Union of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers — 
Panic of the Recruits at the great prevalence of the Cholera — Mexican 
Veterans would rather face a Battery than Asiatic Cholera — Death of 
General Mason by this Disease 17 

CHAPTER IV. 

Trip from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Smith — Thoughts on Benton, Clay, 
Calhoun and Webster — Hot Weather at Memphis — Tedious Journey up 
the Arkansas — A Row between Passengers and Captain — Numerous 
Doctors at Little Rock — Pat desires to be his own Heir — Rough Stage 
Traveling and several Accidents— Arrival at Fort Smith — The inter- 
position of U. S. Troops often required to settle disturbances among the 
Cherokees, and between the latter and their Arkansas Neighbors — The 
Cherokees a warlike Race 25 

CHAPTER V. 

Departure from Fort Smith into the Indian Country with only a stupid 
teamster— First effort at making Coffee— Choctaw Ball Play— Remarks 
concerning these Indians — A dreary Travel in the Dark — Charming 



VI CONTENTS, 

PAGE. 

Landscape — Supper on broiled Squirrel and stony Biscuit — Knowing 
winks of the roguish Mules — The Teamster's Night-'inare — Left alone 
all Night without Weapons in a dismal Forest, and serenaded by wild 
Beasts — Arrival at Fort Washita — Paid a compliment to my Hostess' 
Cooking — Met my new Commander — Death of General Leavenworth 
and Massacre of Judge Martin — Hooting of an Owl — Reach Camp 
Arbuckle — "What! a tee-to-taler" — Hit the "Bull's Eye" — Marcy's 
Coon Story 36 

CHAPTER VL 

Living in Tents and temporary Log Cabins — Commissioned Officers mess 
together — Mrs. Marcy's first attempt at Cooking — Love in a Cottage, 
and Love in a Frontier Cabin contrasted — Proposed exchange of Wives 
between an Indian Chief and Marcy — Too much hard Work and not 
enough- military Instruction — Hunting, instead of Fatigue Parties — 
Several hunting Trips — Killed the first Deer — Alarmed by Indians and 
swim the River — Lost my way — Headed off by two wild Indians — 
Hunting Deer with a Hog — Kill another Deer, which was claimed by 
Updegraaf — Almost frozen to Death — Christmas Bill of Fare — Army 
and Navy Mess— Cherokees and their Negro Prisoners — Cherokees and 
Creeks — Burning Hay to save it. Hey ! — Genuine Prairie Fire — Rattle- 
snakes, Centipedes and Tarantulas — Compass Plant — Sad News from 
Home 51 

CHAPTER VII. 

Change of Location^View of the Washita Valley — Graves of Comanches ; 
Habits and Customs of these Indians — Their Hostility to the Govern- 
ment, and Threats to drive everybody out of the Country — An Unoccu- 
pied Field for Missionaries among them — To chastise them, mounted 
Troops indispensable — Recruits worthless — Comanches at Home on 
Horseback — How they Subsist and Clothe themselves — They approach 
both Friend and Foe in a Run 73 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Erection of Quarters — Whisky Dealers — Hospital Steward — Reflections upon 
the Evils of Intemperance — The Fifth Infantry to be relieved by the 
Seventh — Separation of Families — Vow of Celibacy whilst in the Army — 
Violent Storms — Rattlesnakes seek shelter in Mess Tent, and beneath 
my Bed — The Wild Indians threaten to combine and drive us out of the 
Country — Death of two Ofhcers of the Fifth Infantry — Fish, Birds and 
Animals — My Hunting Companion, Lieutenant Pearce — He frightens me 
terribly by screaming at a Rattlesnake — Our Turkey Hunt — Delaware 
and Shawnee Indians as Guides — The Kickapoos — First Lady in Gar- 
rison — Respect for Females by Civilized and Uncivilized People Si 



CONTENTS. Vn 

CHAPTER IX. 

PAGE. 

An Officer Court-martialed — Another threat by the Comanches — Rumored 
Massacre of Captain Marcy and party — Kickapoo War Dance — Howling 
of Wolves create a Stampede — Marcy reads his own Obituary— Visit to 
the Kickapoos — Much sickness among them — They importune my Assist- 
ance — Another Christmas — Deprivations of Army Officers — A Warning 
to Young Ladies — Little Dug's fall into a Duck Pond — The tribes of 
Redskins who visit the Post — Choctaw Law — Murder of Dr. Ward — 
Desertions — Trouble with the Kickapoos, Witchitaws and Wacos — 
Kickapoo Ball-Play — Departure of Lieutenant Garland and Wife — Rare 
sport at Pigeon Shooting by myself in the Mountains — The Indians 
must change their Habits or be Annihilated — The Soldier Jack of all 
Trades — More Sad News from Home 95 

CHAPTER X. 

Amusing Comanche Scares at the Sawmill — Captain Simmons relieves 
Brevet Major Henshaw — Mirage — Deer Hunting — A party of Mormons; 
Nearly all sick — Their Religion — A Visit from the Comanches; The 
Chief is very sick, and is cured by White Man's Medicine for the first 
Time — Fatal Encounter between Major, Arnold and Dr. Steiner^A 
Murder by Indians ; and Captivity of Mrs. Wilson — A general Court- 
martial — A Description of the several kinds of Courts — Execution of a 
Court-martial Sentence — Visit from Inspector-General — Ransom and ■ 
Escape of the Wilson Family from the Indians I14 

CHAPTER XI. 

Murder of Col. Stem, and remarkable Fate of the Indians who committed 
the Act — A Visit to Caddo Village — A magnificent View from the 
Washita Mountains — Prairie Dogs — Climate — Our Society augmented — 
A surious Ceremony among the Kickapoos, and singular coincidence — 
Hurricane — Service of the Troops — Temporary Exchange of Posts with 
Dr. Stone — A Suicide — To be relieved by Dr. Williams — Become 
Poetical 133 

CHAPTER XII. 
Incidents of Homeward Journey by Land and Sea 14S 

CHAPTER XIII. 
How 1 spent my Three Months' Leave of Absence 162 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Sea Voyage to California — Bogus Governor — Small Pox— Railroad Scare — 

Wreck of the Golden Age — Yerb Prescription for Cholera worth $1,000 179 



Vin CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XV. 

PAGE. 

San Francisco — Benicia Barracks — Climate — Anecdotes of Speculation — 
Land Titles — San Jose Lawyer and His Client — Stormy Voyage to Fort 
Orford 205 



CHAPTER XVL 

Climate, Mines, etc., of the Oregon Coast — In Command of the Post, and 
fire a National Salute — Conflict between Indians and Whites on " Battle 
Rock" — Fish and Game ^ 220 



CHAPTER XVII. 

About Mining — "Drop Riffle" — Mining Excitements — Confidential Hum- 
bugs — Reticent, and Lucky Miners — "For God's sake hurry, the Lieu- 
tenant is Shot" 231 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Indian Council — A Disturbance — Two Indians and three Whites Killed — 

Modes, Habits, etc., of the Indians 240 



CHAPTER XIX. 

"Lagrande Speculation" — Indian Hostilities in Washington Territory — 
Defeat of Major Haller — Threatened Indian outbreak in Southern 
Oregon —Rumored Massacre of Lieutenant Kautz and Party — Repulse 
of Upper Rogue River Indians by U. S. Troops under Major Fitzgerald. 225 



CHAPTER XX. 

Return of Kautz — His Encounter with Indians — Battle of "Hungry Hill" — 
General Harney defeats the Sioux — A Storm — Whales in the Harbor — 
Christmas — Indian Troubles near Puget Sound — Lieutenant Slaughter 
Killed — Steamer ' 'California" catching fire, and subsequently experienc- 
ing a Terrific Gale — Four Indians Killed for Stealing — Two Whites Way- 
layed and Killed by Indians — Slight Skirmish by Volunteers — The 
Upper Rogue River Indians trying to incite the Coast Indians to War — 
Col. Kelly's repulse of the Indians in Eastern Oregon — Upper Rogue 
River Indians surrounded but escape — Good Shots — Killed Dr. Myers 
at 300 yards — An effort to separate the Coast from Hostile Indians — 
Rock Oysters and Sea Otter 261 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER XXI. ' 

PAGE. 

Uprising of Coast Indians — Terrible Massacre of Whites — Coast Settlers 
take refuge in temporary Fortifications- -Narrov/ Escape of Dr. White, 
Messrs. Foster and Smith — Ten men sent in a row-boat with Provisions 
for besieged Whites, are Drowned — The Hunter Roland — Strengthening 
our Fortifications — A Detachment from Fort Miner's nearly cut to 
pieces — An Exchange of Prisoners— Military Relief for Fort Miner 282 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Troops move in three divisions against the Indians — A Skirmish at the 
mouth of the Illinois — The Regulars relieve a besieged Company of 
Volunteers, and subsequently the Citizens, at Fort Miner — Skirmish at 
the mouth of Rogue River — Another at Macanuteeny Village — Narrow 
escape of two Expressmen — Captain Smith encounters the Indians near 
the mouth of the Illinois — An Expressman decoyed by a Spur — Skir- 
mish with the enemy by the commands of Majors Latshaw and Bruce — 
Pack Train captured by the Rogue River Indians — Also the Horses of 
Captain George's Company of Volunteers — Captain Keyes defeats the 
enemy at Muckle Chute Prairie — "/ a;« Kanaskct, and I hate you" — 
Massacre at the Cascades 293 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

In the hold of a Schooner with the Hatches battened down, during a 
Storm — Bled:3>je waylays and kills a number of Indians— Names of the 
Hostile Tribes — Causes of the War — Some of the Coast Indians desire 
Peace — General Wool and the Governors of Oregon and Washington 
Territories at cross purposes — Indians desiring to Interview an Enemy, 
first send an old Squaw — A Brush with the Indians at Chetcoe — An 
Indian lynched at Port Orford 313 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Colonel Buchanan's command march up on each side of Rogue River with 
the Olive Branch in one hand, and the Sword in the other — Colonel 
Cornelius' Volunteers lose their horses— General Lamerick comes across 
the enemy at the Big Meadows — Views as to the kind of Troops 
necessary for Indian Service — More Peace Talk — Old George's Band — 
Superintendent of Indians goes to the Front — Colonel Wright's Talk 
with Kimiakin unsatisfactory — San Francisco Vigilance Committee — 
Old John's Treachery, and a bloody battle — Stampede at Port Orford — 
Wreck of a Vessel — Was Morrison a Knave or a Fool ? — More concern- 
ing the Vigilance Committee of San Francisco — A Skirmish with the 
Indians four miles above the mouth of the Illinois — A Fight with the 
Enemy five miles below the junction of the Illinois and Rogue Rivers — 
The Troops victorious , 324 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

FAGE 

An Indian scheme to attack Fort Orford — Further indications of the Enemy 
growing tired of the War — More talk of Treachery and Capture of Fort 
Orford — George and Limpy's Bands surrender — Chief John has a Cry — 
Arrival of Troops and many Indians — Treachery prevented by the con- 
finement of twelve Chiefs — Departure of a portion of the Indians for the 
Coast Reservation — Old John promises to come in — Captain Ord arrives 
with Old John's Band, and other Indians — On the Fourth of July Col. 
Buchanan announces the close of the Rogue River War — Remaining 
Indians sent overland to the Reservation — Colonel Wright unable to 
make Peace with the Enemy east of the Cascade Mountains — A danger- 
ous Sea Trip in a Canoe — San Francisco still under the control of the 
Vigilance Committee — United States Dragoons and Kansas Riots 342 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Packers Robbed and Killed by Indian Stragglers — Five bad Indians shot by 
a Party of Whites — Colonel Shaw routs the Enemy near Grande Ronde — 
Skirmish of Colonel Layton — My trip from Fort Orford to Fort Yamhill— 
Fort Vancouver — Hudson Bay Company — Ben. Wright — The Cascades — 
The Willamette Falls — Steamboat "Hoosier" — Yamhill Valley — Fort 
Yamhill 356 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Visit to the Coast — An Indian Attack upon Governor Steven's Escort — 
Splendid Mountain Scenery from a point near Fort Yamhill — Two 
Murders in Garrison — A Government Train perishes in the Snow — A 
Hard Trip through Deep Snow — The Indian Department and the Indians 
lose much Stock — The Indians threaten to return to Rogue River — 
Whites Stampeded— In order to stay the hand of Death, the Indians 
resolve to kill their Doctors — My Horse falls and rolls down a Hill — 
Captain Stevenson's Skirmish with the Indians in Florida — The Mor- 
mons — A Fourth of July Accident prevented by Lieutenant Sheridan — 
Welcker's Wedding Festivities — Mormon Troubles — Synopsis of the 
Weather 372 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Loss of the Steamer "Central America" — Financial Crisis — Trouble among 
the Reservation Indians — Utah Expedition — An Expressman Drowned — 
Brigham Young more Conciliatory — Indians Moody — Chief John and 
Son Shackled and sent to Presidio, near San Francisco — Frazer River 
Mining Excitement — Rumored Fight with the Indians by the Troops 
under Colonel Steptoe 390 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

PAGE. 

Steptoe's Defeat — Chief John and Son raise a row on board ship and get 
wounded — 30,000 persons gone to Frazer River Mines — A party of 
ninety Miners under Robertson driven back by the Indians east of the 
Cascade Mountains — Financially Ruined — The Mormon Troubles 
ended — A Campaign to be made against Confederate Indians in 
Eastern Washington and Oregon — Rumored fight with the Indians by 
the Troops under Colonel Wright 402 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Submarine Telegraph — Total Defeat of the Indians by Colonel Wright's 
Command — The Indian War east of the Cascade Range at an end — 
Five hundred Passengers lost by the burning of the Steamship Austria — 
Two Children carried up in a Balloon — Chamberlain crossing the Plains 
alone with a Wheelbarrow — Nearly a Fight with Old Sam's Band, 
whom the Troops disarm — "Tom, keep your Gun, and let us shake 
hands in Friendship" 415 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
The Indians and their Relations to the Government 428 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
Garrison Society 45 1 

CHAPTER XXXIII, 

A Comparative View of the Climate, Resources and Diseases of the South- 
west, embracing the Indian Territory and Western Texas, and of the 
Northwest Coast, including Washington Territory and Oregon 474 



JOURNAL OF ARMY LIFE. 



CHAPTER I. 

COMMENCEMENT OF ARMY LIFE. 

Army Medical Board — Grades in Medical Corps — The Examination a Severe 
Ordeal — Depression on severing Old Ties and Associations — Not to remain 
in Army for Life — Acting as Aid to General Childs- -Pleasant Society at 
Fort McHenry and Carlisle Barracks — Comanche Charge. 

Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, July 2d, 1850. 

HAVING received a diploma as M. D., from the 
University of Maryland on the 20th of March, 
A. D., 1849, ^ shortly afterward opened an office in 
Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland, where I practiced 
medicine until the second of May in the following 
year, when I received a commission of Assistant Sur- 
geon in the United States Army — having passed the 
necessary examination before a Board of Army Sur- 
geons, convened in Philadelphia on the 15th of Octo- 
ber, 1849. 

There are three grades in the medical corps — 
Surgeon General, Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon; 
the first hsls the rank of Colonel, the second of Major, 
and the third of First Lieutenant, during the first five 
years of service, afterward of Captain until promotion 



2 JOURNAL OF 

to the grade of Surgeon. This rank is not merely as- 
simulative, but real ; and avails its possessor in the 
selection of quarters, in the matter of precedence 
where serving on mixed Boards, Councils of Adminis- 
tration, Courts Martial ; and in everything except com- 
manding troops when a line officer is present. 

The duties of Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons are 
essentially the same. When acting together, which is 
rarely the case, owing to the numerous garrisons and 
detachments into which our army is distributed, the 
former, of course, rank the latter. So does seniority 
in either grade give precedence over juniors. 

During* the Revolutionary war, and for many subse- 
quent years, the medical corps had a very different, and 
far less efficient organization than at present. The 
Surgeons, and Surgeons' Mates, as the Assistant Sur- 
geons were then designated, were attached to posts or 
regiments permanently ; now medical officers belong 
to the general staff, and are liable for duty in any arm 
or branch of service. 

Few persons out of the medical profession have a 
just appreciation of the severe ordeal through which 
medical officers of the army have to pass before ob- 
taining their commissions. Until July 7th, 1832, politi- 
cal influence alone was sufficient to enable one to 
enter the medical corps of the army, at which time 
Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, issued an order reiter- 
ating a clause of the army regulations for 1825, pro- 
hibiting appointments into this corps until after an ex- 
amination by a properly authorized Medical Board. 

Prior to the Secretary's order this regulation had 
never been carried out on account of the difficulty of 



AJiMV LIFE. 3 

detailing medical officers to constitute the Board ; but 
ever since then it has been strictly enforced. The 
Board has generally been convened about once a year, 
either at New York, Philadelphia or Baltimore — these 
cities being the great centers of medical education. 
Due notice of the meeting of the Board has always 
been given in the public press several months before 
its session ; likewise an invitation to all persons desi- 
rous of being candidates for appointment into the 
medical staff, to appear before the Board. 

The only preliminary step required is to obtain a 
permit from the Secretary of War — this being readily 
granted to all applicants of good, moral, and social 
standing within the prescribed ages, from twenty-one 
to twenty-eight. 

The examination is always critical and severe, and 
but a small proportion of the applicants successfully 
pass the ordeal. Having determined to stand my 
chances either before the Army or Naval Board, I de- 
voted my whole leisure time, after graduating, to the 
study of my profession, and such collateral branches 
as appertain to a liberal medical education. Not wish- 
ing to lose what practice I had in Baltimore, by too 
long an absence, I wrote to the President of the Board 
to know about what time it would be ready to examine 
me. Having received a satisfactory reply^ I reported 
in person at the designated time, and was told to be 
ready on the following day. 

The Board was composed of Surgeons Thomas G. 
Mower, Richard S. Satterlee, and Assistant Surgeon 
Robert Southgate, and held its session at Jones' Hotel, 
Philadelphia. 



4 ' JOURNAL OF 

The members were entire strangers to me, but being 
convinced of the impartiality of their examination, I 
felt no fears on that score. The only letters that I 
presented related mostly to my moral and social 
standing, as I well knew that the Board would prefer 
to ascertain, by an examination, my scientific and 
scholastic acquirements. 

It was well for me, perhaps, that I was fortified with 
testimony as to character, for, as ill-luck would have it, 
I received a severe bruise on the cheek by accidentally 
striking my face against the bedstead the night previ- 
ous to my examination. The Board was somewhat 
shocked at my appearance, but seemed satisfied with 
my explanation. My examination lasted three days. 

On the first day the questions were of a general 
character, having as much reference to educational as 
scientific attainments. The Board, being satisfied on 
these points, handed me a subject for a thesis, scorbu- 
tus or scurvy, and placed me in an adjoining room to 
write it. I was prohibited from referring to any books 
for information. This being a very rare disease in the 
Atlantic cities, I had never seen a case of it, or heard 
a lecture upon this subject. Nevertheless, I was 
familiar with the history and theory of the disease 
from medical books, and consequently wrote what the 
examining board considered a good thesis. 

On the second and third days I underwent a very 
searching examination in the various branches of medi- 
cine. As I had satisfactorily answered nearly all of 
the questions propounded, I felt sanguine of success, 
but did not, of course, make any inquiries in relation 
thereto, as I knew that the Board could not divulge 



AJ?MV LIFE. 5 

any part of its proceedings until making a report to 
the Surgeon General, at Washington City. 

In due course of time I received a letter from the 
War Department informing me that having passed a 
successful examination, I should be commissioned as 
soon as a vacancy occurred. There were six other 
successful candidates, I being the only one from Mary- 
land, although there were quite a number of candidates 
from this State. I subsequently ascertained, at the 
Surgeon General's office, that the Board made an un- 
usually complimentary report as to the qualifications 
of the successful candidates. Very few of my friends 
knew that I had appeared before the Board until I had 
been officially informed of my success — not even my 
relations. 

The first impressions of delight on the reception of 
my commission being over, I began to look forward to 
my new career with feelings a little tinctured with re- 
gret at having to sever old ties and associations in a 
city that I loved so well, to enter upon a field of duty 
so different from anything in civil life. The gilt button, 
which is all the rage since the Mexican war, had no 
charms for me. Still I looked upon my new position 
as one of honor — and knew whilst it afforded me a 
sure livelihood, I should also have facilities of acquiring 
much useful information, both professional and other- 
wise, not to be obtained in civil practice. Yet, how- 
ever m.uch I may like army-life, it is not my intention 
to remain in it for life. 

My first assignment to duty was at Fort McHenry, 
near Baltimore — which was then garrisoned by two 
companies of light artillery — Brevet-majors Hays and 



6 JOURNAL OF 

Sedgwick's — and commanded by Brigadier General 
Thomas Childs. I was stationed there temporarily 
during the absence of Surgeon Robert C. Wood at 
West Point, where he had gone as a member of a 
Board for the physical examination of Cadets. 

Besides my duties at the post, I had to visit the re- 
cruiting rendezvous, in Baltimore, daily, to examine re- 
cruits. Medical officers of the army, although to a 
certain extent under the control of commanding^ officers 
of posts, or of commanders of departments, or divi- 
sions, or of an army in the field, have their duties so 
well defined by the "regulations," that it is very rare 
indeed for them to receive orders except from the head 
of their own department. They belong, however, to 
the general staff, and are consequently liable in an 
emergency to almost any kind of duty required of staff 
officers. For instance, at the first "general inspection 
and muster" at Fort McHenry, that occurred after my 
arrival, I was required to act as aide-de-camp to the 
general, Mr. Rhett being ill. These "reviews" are 
generally attended by a great many spectators. 

Owing to the beauty of the day, and a special invi- 
tation from General Childs to his city friends, there 
were present on this occasion an unusually large 
number of o-entlemen and ladies from Baltimore. 
After having reviewed and inspected the troops, we dis- 
mounted, and turning our horses over to an orderly to 
hold, joined the lady spectators to witness the drill. 
Whilst I was proceeding faire I'ahnable to a very 
charming demoiselle, the General turned to me and 
said, "give my compliments to Major Sedgwick — he 
will cease firing. " Not fully appreciating all the duties 



ARMY LIFE. 7 

of an aid-de-camp, I was at first a little disconcerted, 
but, remounting my horse, I delivered the General's 
order, which was, of course, promptly obeyed by the 
Major. The review being over, we joined the invited 
guests, and partook of refreshments at the General's 
residence. 

A happy combination of circumstances rendered the 
six weeks of my sojourn at Fort McHenry a delightful 
recreation. It was in the lovely months of May and 
June, when the rural scenery of Maryland presents its 
most enchantinof view. The season when the over- 
worked denizens of largfe and crowded towns should 
bid adieu, for a time, to the heat, smoke and unhealthy 
miasma of a city atmosphere, and hie to the country. 

Fort McHenry is about a mile from the suburbs of 
Baltimore, and being situated in a somewhat triangular 
neck of land (a peninsula), with one of its sides washed 
by the river Patapsco, and the other by the basin or 
harbor of Baltimore, it affords a very agreeable, quiet 
country-like retreat, where the exhausted and weary 
student, or professional man, can inhale the invigorat- 
ing sea and country air, and enjoy a comparative free- 
dom from the cares of busy life. 

I did not, however, lead the life of a sluggard. My 
professional duties were promptly attended to, and 
the most of my leisure hours devoted to mental culture. 
Still the stream of my life had begun to run in a chan- 
nel so quiet and smooth, in comparison to the never- 
ceasing toil of my student life, that I began to think, 
after all, the lot of an army medical officer was quite 
as good as a young man with moderate aspirations 
could desire. 



8 JOURNAL OF 

The society of the garrison, consisting of the officers 
and their famihes, was congenial and agreeable, and 
nothing occurred during my short stay to render me 
discontented; still, for some reason or other, when 
orders came for my departure to a rougher and more 
distant field of duty, I felt delighted. Curiosity and 
desire to experience the various vicissitudes of army 
life, had doubtless much to do in rendering me so 
willing to cut loose from the many pleasant reminis- 
cences of old Fort McHenry. 

On the 28th of June, 1850, I received orders from 
the War Department to proceed to Carlisle Barracks, 
Pennsylvania, and accompany thence a detachment of 
recruits to Jefferson Barracks^ Missouri ; thence to go 
to Fort Smith, in Arkansas, and report myself for duty 
to the commanding officer of Military Department 
No. 7, to be sent by him to a new post about being 
established on the Canadian river. 

Nothing of peculiar interest occurred on my trip 
from Fort McHenry to York — whither I went by rail- 
road — excepting being somewhat annoyed by the fre- 
quent clouds of embers from the engine. At York I 
took the stage. It being a delightfully cool evening, 
and having a beautiful range of country to pass through, 
I was most agreeably disappointed as to the unpleas- 
antness of this mode of travel. Arriving at Carlisle at 
7 p. M., I took lodgings at the Mansion House. On 
the following morning I came to the Barracks, which 
are only a mile from town. Here I found the officers 
engaged in the muster and inspection of troops, which 
is required by the army regulations every two months. 
Besides these there are, of course, monthly and other 
minor inspections. 



AJ?MY LIFE. 



The beauty of everything in this region, at this 
season of the year, and of the barracks themselves, 
together with the brotherly kindness with which I was 
received by the officers of the garrison, caused me to 
feel perfectly at home. This post is a depot and school 
of practice for recruits, to fit them for the dragoon 
service,. and is at present commanded by Brevet-lieu- 
tenant Colonel P. St. George Cooke. The regimental 
band at this place is a very excellent one ; and being 
the only one in this part of the country, is much sought 
after by various parties and celebrations. 

There are but few, I imagine, who could not appre- 
ciate the comforts of a garrison like this. The bar- 
racks are located in the heart of a beautiful valley, 
equidistant from two ranges of mountains, which form 
parts of the great Apalachian Range. They are built 
in a rectangular form, with neat and comfortable 
quarters for men and officers, and constitute the greatest 
attraction in the neiehborhood. 

During my stay here I have enjoyed myself in a 
quiet way. I called on a few ladies in Carlisle, and 
was one of a social company who assembled at Captain 
Buford's the other evening, where we had a most de- 
lightful party. In truth, the several parties in the gar- 
rison, both here and at Fort McHenry, to which I had 
the honor of an invitation, equaled, if not excelled 
in elegance, many of those given in Baltimore. Army 
people, stationed at the forts in the vicinity of our large 
cities, are the ever- welcome guests of all the parties, 
balls, and other like gatherings in the fashionable world. 
But, as it is well known that their pay is small, they are 
rarely expected to give large entertainments to their 



lO JOURNAL OF 

friends in return for the civilities extended to them. 
When, however, they do have a miHtary party, it is 
generally well gotten up, even though it exhausts sev- 
eral month's pay to foot the bills. 

Yesterday, desiring to take a gallop over the hills 
and dales of this enchanting valley, I borrowed a 
dragoon horse, that is in the habit of starting on the 
instant the rider gets his foot in the stirrup. Not 
being informed of this trick, I attempted leisurely to 
mount him, and to my surprise, instead of lighting in 
the saddle I found myself behind it, with only my left 
foot in the stirrup, and the horse running at full speed. 
I sailed along in this condition in full view of the whole 
garrison, who happened to be on parade at the time, 
for a distance of several hundred yards, before I could 
adjust myself in the saddle, and bring my pegasus 
under proper control. The high cantel of the dragoon 
saddle added greatly to the difficulty of gaining my 
seat. On my return, seeing a slight disposition on the 
part of the officers to rally me, I told them that I was 
practicing the Comanche Charge. 



ARMY LIFE. I I 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM CARLISLE TO JEFFERSON BARRACKS. 

Accompanyiug Recruits from Carlisle to Jefferson Barracks — By Rail, Canal and 
Steamboat — Beauty of Scenery — Prevalence of the Cholera — St. Louis a 
Great Military Place. 

Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, July 23d, 1850. 

Having left Carlisle on the eleventh, we arrived here 
yesterday. 

We Started from the former place with fifty recruits, 
to which number were added at New Post Barracks 
1 30 more — making a total of 1 80. 

Our commissioned officers are — Captain Abraham 
Buford, of the First Dragoons, in command; Captain 
Lorimer Graham, First Dragoons ; Lieutenant Henry 
B. Schroeder, Third Infantry ; Lieutenant Alfred 
Pleasanton, of the Second Dragoons, and myself. 

On bidding farewell to our friends in the town of 
Carlisle, we were cheered repeatedly. Arriving at 
Harrisburg about 2 p. m., we found our way to the 
best hotel in the place, and partook of a hearty dinner. 
That town, though not large, is a very neat looking 
place. The bridges which span the Susquehanna below 
and above the city, are very lengthy, the first being a 
mile long, and the other about half that length. 

At Harrisburg we took the cars for Huntington, 
which we reached at dusk — passing on the way many 
small and uninteresting villages. The road runs 
through a mountainous and picturesque country. To 



12 yOUHNAL OF 

our right for many miles lay the beautiful Susquehanna 
river, a broad and noble stream, taking its meandering 
course along and between many spurs of mountains, 
covered with trees in full foliao^e — thus forminof a 
charming landscape. 

At Huntington we were transferred to a canal boat, 
running to Holl)daysburg, where we again took the 
cars at 9 a. m., on the following day. The railroad 
crossing the Alleghany mountains at this point, forms 
a connection with a canal at Johnsburg. The country 
traversed is the most romantic I have yet seen. The 
road has ten inclined planes — five each side of the 
summit — and passes through a long tunnel a little west 
of the latter. The cars are moved on these heavy 
grades by stationary engines, located at the highest 
point of each. 

Reaching Pittsburg on Saturday we engaged passage 
on the steamboat Asia, a noble vessel, which was to 
have started on the next morning, but did not get off 
until the Monday following. Pittsburg contains about 
seventy -eight thousand inhabitants, and is the smokiest 
and dirtiest place for its size in the Union. Every 
house is blackened by the dense smoke and gas being 
constantly belched forth from its man)- iron and other 
factories. The cholera is quite prevalent along the 
Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It is very fatal in St. 
Louis and Cincinnati, and had just made its appear- 
ance in Pittsburg when we were there. 

On our way down the Ohio river one of our men 
was taken with this disease, but recovered. Just 
before reaching this place, however, we lost one man 
from the malady. I find the hospitals here crowded 



AH^MV LIFE. 13 

with cases of this frightful complaint. Arriving at 
Wheeling, Virginia, on the 16th of July, we took a 
stroll through the town, and then continued on to New 
Port Barracks, Kentucky, where we arrived on the 
eighteenth, and got about one hundred and thirty more 
recruits ; all of whom, together with those we already 
had, were put on board a small and very old steamboat, 
on which we took passage to Louisville, Kentucky. 
When the boat started we sat down to supper, but ate 
very little, being thoroughly disgusted with the boat, and 
the appearance of the unclean supper table in particular. 
A waiter, in serving coffee, unfortunately capsized a tray 
full of this beverage on Captain Graham's shoulders, 
which accident caused this gentleman to leave the 
table in a towering passion. 

At Louisville, the United States Quartermaster 
furnished us with one of the most superb boats on the 
western rivers — the Fashion. Being mentally fatigued 
one evening from reading, and seating myself in an 
arm-chair in the forward part of the boat, with the 
gentle zephyrs fanning my brow ; the silvery moon 
shedding through the sky her mellow light ; the twink- 
ling stars shining forth with unusual brilliancy from the 
diamond-vaulted heavens, I gave my mind up to 
reverie, and soon lived over again the days of my 
boyhood — 

" Ah, then how sweetly closed those crowded days ! 
The minutes parting one by one like rays, 

Tliat fade upon a summer's eve. 
But O, what charm or magic numbers 
Can give me back the gentle slumbers 

Those weary, happy days did leave ? 



14 JOURNAL OF 

Where by my bed I saw my mother kneel, 

And with her blessing took her nightly kiss ; 
Whatever Time destroys, he cannot this : — 

E'en now that nameless kiss T feel." 



On our way up the Mississippi, we saw a flock of 
wild turkeys, who, on perceiving the boat, marched 
quietly off into a neighboring thicket. The first sight 
of these noble birds in their wild condition, made me 
long for a good shotgun, and a few hours ashore. 
Such an opportunity may, however, not occur until I 
reach my new home in the Indian Territory. 

Being unable to secure quarters for our men at this 
Post, we encamped in the vicinity. 

Jefferson Barracks is a general depot for recruits and 
army supplies, and bears the same relation to the more 
distant frontier stations, camps, and forts, that the city 
of St. Louis does to the numerous villages and towns 
along the tributaries of the great Father of Waters 
— the Mississippi River. It is also a school of prac- 
tice and drill for troops of all arms of this service, 
when for any reason they are not required immediately 
at the more western points. 

At present the garrison is very much crowded. 
Hence General Newman S. Clark, now in command 
of Military Department No. 6, has ordered all the re- 
cruits intended for New Mexico, including our detach- 
ment, and another which arrived subsequently, to 
start forthwith for their destination. 

My orders from the Secretary of War required me 
to accompany a body of recruits to Jefferson Barracks, 
and then proceed to Fort Smith and report myself to 



ARMY LIFE. 



15 



the General commanding Military Department No. 7, 
for duty at the new post about to be established in the 
Indian Territory. 

General Clark modified this general order by direct- 
ing me to continue with the detachment of recruits, 
with which I came^ as far as Fort Leavenworth, and 
then obey the general order. 

Subordinate officers have a right to change the 
orders of their superiors when an "emergency of 
service" arises — the prevalence of the cholera being 
the emergency under which General Clark is acting 
in sending me to Fort Leavenworth. 

St. Louis, being only a pleasant hours drive from 
Jefferson Barracks, is the constant resort of the younger 
officers when not on duty. It is probably the greatest 
army place in the United States. The young ladies 
there are most accomplished coquettes, and turn the 
heads and break the hearts of almost every Second 
Lieutenant who chances to come this way. In order to 
keep up appearances in this gay society, many of the 
young men, fresh from West Point, hypothecate or sell 
their pay accounts several months in advance; and are 
then compelled, when they join their companies at 
some out of the way post, to live as economically as 
possible, in order to replenish their exchequer. 

When, however, these young sons of Mars have 
rich papas to draw upon, they sometimes live a fast 
life at this place. Perhaps the most lucky one here in 
this respect is Lieutenant Mathew R. Stevenson, of 
the seventh regiment of infantry, whose father. Col. 
Stevenson of San Francisco, California, allows his 
favorite son Mat. five thousand dollars per annum as 



1 6 JOURNAL OF 

extra "pin money." Of course the latter is a lion 
among his fellow chums at present — as he spends his 
money with a lavish hand. 

Many of the older officers think that Mat. is becom- 
ing a spoiled child, and that his father would do better 
to lay by his surplus cash for some rainy day, when it 
might serve them both more profitably. 

There being a large number of officers with their 
families stationed at this post, and so many new arriv- 
als, the society in garrison is of course much more 
lively than at most other military places. 

Having paid my respects, as required by the army 
regulations, to the commanding officer. Brevet Brig. 
General Richard B. Mason, and returned the courtesies 
of other officers who called upon me, I shall make no 
further effort to mingle in the gay society of this place 
or St. Louis — especially as my sojourn is to be of such 
short duration. 



A/?My LIFE. I 7 



CHAPTER III. 

ON TO FORT LEAVENWORTH. 

By Steamboat to Fort Leavenworth — Military Stations being nuclei for Settle- 
ments — The frequent removal of Indians by the Government, and their Final 
Fate — Alcohol the Firebrand of Indian Disturbances — Col. B. of the Dragoons 
— Union of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers — Panic of the Recruits at the 
great prevalence of the Cholera — Mexican Veterans would rather face a Bat- 
tery than Asiatic Cholera — Death of General Mason by this Disease. 

Fort Leavenworth, August 17th, 1850. 

WE reached this place on the evening of the 
twenty-seventh ukimo, after a four days trip 
by Steamboat from Jefferson Barracks. This fort was 
built by General Leavenworth, from whom it takes its 
name, and is located on the west bank of the Missouri 
River, in Kansas Territory. It is a most charming 
spot, and surrounded by one of the richest agricultural 
regions in the United States. It is distant by water 
from St. Louis six hundred miles. 

Only a few years ago, this post was considered in 
the very heart of the Indian country. But settlements 
spring up so fast in the vicinity of military stations, 
when not prohibited by Government, that the whole 
aspect of this region is being rapidly changed by the 
small homes of the pioneer settlers. 

The overland emigration to New Mexico, Utah, and 
California, passing near here, gives an increased im- 
petus to this section of country. 

The many small bands of Indians, removed to this 
part of our territory a few years ago, to give room for 



I 8 JOURNAL OF 

the great expansion of the white settlements, will find 
that they must soon pack up for another pilgrimage, 
before the ava^it couriers of civilization press them 
too closely. 

Thus it ever is; the red man of the Atlantic slope 
must be crowded further west, whilst his race on the 
far-off Pacific shores, are jostled and pushed towards 
the risinof sun. When at last the great tides of immi- 
gration meet midway between the two oceans, the 
remnants of the sixteen millions of tkose native lords 
of the soil, that once roamed over this broad land, 
who shall not have left their bones bleaching on the 
plains behind, will be engulphed forever beneath the 
waves of advancing civilization. One shudders at the 
thought of the many bloody conflicts yet to occur be- 
tween these contendinof races of human beings. 

If we are to take history as our guide in divining the 
future, the right and wrong of these cruel encounters 
will not always rest exclusively on either side — but one 
time with the red man — at another with his pale-face 
brother. Yet, as in the past, the innocent many will 
often have to suffer for the guilty few. He who sows 
the wind does not always reap the whirlwind. 

The small tribes of Indians living in the vicinity of, 
or who visit, this post for the purposes of trade at the 
sutler's store — the transaction of official business with 
the government — or out of idle curiosity, are the 
Omahas, Ottoes, Konzas, Pawnees, Delawares; Weahs, 
Shawanos, Potawatamies, Kickapoos and loways. 

In the scale of civilization they range from the primi- 
tive savage to the half civilized Indian. They have 
many troubles among themselves, and with the pioneer 



A/?MY LIFE. 1 9 

settlers, that can only be arranged by an appeal to the 
military commander at this post. Such interviews on 
the part of these children of the forest with the gov- 
ernment officers at all the frontier stations are numer- 
ous, and require the possession of great patience and 
tact in the latter, in order to produce good results. 

Alcohol is the fire-brand that creates more disturb- 
ances among them and their neighbors than all other 
causes combined. However strict the government may 
be in its laws, eoncerning the introduction of spirituous 
liquors on Indian reservations, there is always a class 
of bad white men, and of half-breed Indians, who defy 
all regulations upon the subject. 

In view of more easily controlling the sale of contra- 
band articles to the Indians, and to the soldiers occu- 
pying military reserves in the Indian country, the gov- 
ment has found it convenient and wise, to appoint at 
almost every frontier station a post sutler — who is 
simply a merchant, under certain military restrictions. 
The following extracts from the army regulations, re- 
lating to him, explain themselves: — 

" Every military post may have one sutler, to be appointed by the 
Secretary of War, on the recommendation of the council of admin- 
istration, approved by the commanding officer. 

No tax or burden in any shape, other than the authorized assessment 
for the post fund, will be imposed on the sutler. If there be a spare 
building, the use may be allowed him, he being responsible that it is 
kept in repair. If there be no such building, he may be allowed to 
erect one; but this article gives the sutler no claim to quarters, trans- 
portation of himself or goods, or to any military allowance whatever. 
The tariff of prices fixed by the council of administration, shall be 
exposed in a conspicuous place in the sutler's store. No difference o( 



20 JOURNAL OF 

prices will be allowed on cash or credit sales. Sutlers are not allowed 
to keep ardent spirits, or other intoxicating drinks, under penalty of 
losing their situations." 

A sutler's store at a frontier post is a very popular 
place of resort, not only for members of the garrison 
off duty, but for the inhabitants of the surrounding 
country far and near. Although prohibited from sell- 
ing ardent spirits, he is allowed to keep it for his own 
use and that of his friends. Of course his hospitality 
is often called into requisition by such of the officers 
as use this beverage — the number who do not, to some 
extent, is small indeed — I find myself in this respect an 
exception almost everywhere. At present there are a 
few officers at this post who indulge quite too freely 
for their own health, or the comfort of their friends. 
The most remarkable one in this respect is Colonel 

B , of the Dragoons, who can sit up night after night 

for a week imbibing his toddy, and relating anecdotes 
by the thousand. The old gentlemen's vivacity, wit, 
and humor, are exceedingly entertaining to strangers. 
Some of his subordinates, however, who have been 
stationed at the same post with him for several years, 
say, that after he begins to relate over his anecdotes a 
few times, they cease to excite any mirth, and become 
a nuisance. Good story-tellers should endeavor to re- 
peat but seldom their mirth exciting narrations, to the 
same auditors, if they wish to avoid being voted a bore. 
As good jokes, like strawberries and cream, are only 
relished when not served too often. 

On our trip from Jefferson Barracks to this place, we 
had the pleasure of seeing what Thomas Jefferson once 
said was worth a journey from Washington City to 



AJ?My LIFE. 2 I 

behold. That is^ the union of the waters of the Mis- 
sissippi and Missouri rivers. They run for miles with- 
out mixing-. The water of the former, at this season 
of the year, being limpid, and that of the latter muddy. 
This turbid appearance is produced by the falling in 
of the rich alluvial banks of the river, which is unceas- 
ingly changing its course, by making on one side and 
losing on the other. Though always muddy, it is, of 
course, more so during the spring freshets. What 
may be called the bottom land of the Missouri river 
is formed by the ever- varying course of this whimsical 
stream, and has an average width of about nine miles. 
This is covered at many places with gloomy forests of 
lofty cotton-wood. Its soil is rich and productive in 
the highest degree. 

On either side of this lowland of the river, are the 
boundless prairies, whose summit levels are several 
hundred feet above the bottom. In many places these 
natural meadows slope gently down to the water's 
edge, uncovered except by a green carpet of grass — 
thus affording a charming landscape. 

General Clarke acted wisely in not permitting the 
four hundred recruits at Jefferson Barracks to be 
crowded on a single boat with only one medical 
officer; and in dividing them into two detachments, 
having Dr. Elisha P. Langworthy with one, and my- 
self with the other ; because^ as he feared, of the pres- 
ence of the epidemic^ or Asiatic cholera. 

This frightful disease broke out among the troops 
on the first day of our departure, and spread with, 
fearful rapidity. Nearly every man in the command 
was taken sick with it, in some of its stages, before 



22 JOURNAL OF 

our arrival at Fort Leavenworth. None of the cases, 
however, proved fatal until the night we reached the 
fort, when several died. The men were panic-stricken 
at the appearance of this complaint among them, and 
besought me to recommend the officer in command to 
let them march overland to their destination. Of 
course there were powerful reasons why I declined to 
acquiesce in their petition. I well knew that such a 
trip in a torrid July sun, after the system had once 
been infected, would have sounded the death-knell of 
almost the entire command. The captain of the boat 
was requested to push on to Fort Leavenworth as fast 
as steam could carry him ; and to stop for wood as 
seldom as possible. Whenever he did make a land- 
ing the commissioned officers had to stand guard, pis- 
tol and sword in hand, to prevent a general desertion 
of such of the recruits as were able to be on their feet. 

We placed the sick in the most comfortable parts of 
vessel, reserving to ourselves, and other cabin passen- 
gers, barely room for the dining table. Although the 
officers escaped the scourge, yet the groans of its vic- 
tims were anything but sedatives to their nerves. They 
had all been in the Mexican war — where one of them 
was badly wounded — yet acknowledged that they 
would far rather be under fire, where the stimuli of 
the din of battle and military renown keep off fear, 
than spectators of the silent, though deadly, onslaught 
of the Asiatic cholera. 

On arriving here, we found this pestilence in full 
force, and have just heard the sad news of the death, 
at Jefferson Barracks, of Brevet Brig.-General Richard 
P. Mason, Colonel of the First Dragoons, and com- 



AliMY LIFE. 2 3 

mandant of the post, from cholera. He died on the 
twenty-fifth ultimo. Only three weeks ago I saw him 
surrounded by a doting and happy family, all uncon- 
scious that the angel of death was hovering near. 

" O, why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? 

Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud, 

A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, 

Man passes from life to his rest in the grave. 

The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, 

Be scattered around, and together be laid ; 

And the young and the old, and the low and the high, 

Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie. 

The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne ; 

The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn ; 

The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave. 

Are hidden and lost in the depth of the grave." 

While sympathizing deeply in the bereavement of the 
many happy homes caused by the cholera, I cannot 
but feel a professional pride in having been able to see 
this disease for myself, an opportunity that may 
never again be afforded me, although I should live to 
a good old age ; for it is a malady that invades this 
country only at long intervals. Its native home is 
India, where it prevails both sporadically and epidem- 
ically. Commencing its devastating march from Bengal 
in 1 81 7, it gradually spead, with numerous halts, until 
it had invaded almost the entire world. 

It did not reach the American continent until 1832. 
It appeared first at Quebec on the 8th of June, and at 
Montreal on the loth ; thence moved rapidly along the 
St- Lawrence river, and the great chain of lakes, to the 
Mississippi valley, extending southerly so far as New 



24 JOURNAL OF 

Orleans, attacking on its way the United States troops 
who were being concentrated near the lake for a 
campaign against the hostile Indians under Black 
Hawk, living in the present State of Wisconsin, who 
commenced warfare upon the frontier settlers of 
Illinois. 

This fearful disease nearly paralyzed the efforts of 
the troops for the time being. Like an invading army 
it did not confine itself to a single point of attack, but 
sent off a detachment from the main line of invasion 
to strike terror into the hearts of the citizens of New- 
York, where the disease broke out on the 24th of June. 
Thence it radiated northerly up the Hudson river as 
far as Albany, and southerly to Philadelphia and Balti- 
more, and other places on the Delaware and Chese- 
peake bays. 

Before the end of 1832 it had spread to Charleston, 
South Carolina ; Havana, in Cuba ; ar.d to Mexico. 
In the United States there were partial returns of the 
complaint in 1833 and 1834; when it disappeared 
from North America entirely. 

The rising generations of physicians in this country 
have never had an opportunity to see the disease until 
its second great visitation in 1849 and 1850. They 
will now be able to behold and investigate it for them- 
selves ; and after trying such remedies as their fore- 
fathers have sometimes found beneficial, yet often 
powerless, can seek for the, as yet undiscovered, 
specific in epidemic cholera. 



A/?AJy LIFE. 25 



CHAPTER IV. 

FORT LEAVENWORTH TO FORT SMITH. 

Trip from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Smith — Thoughts on Benton, Clay, Cal- 
houn and Webster — Hot weather at Memphis — Tedious Journey up the 
Arkansas — A Row between Passengers and Captain— Numerous Doctors at 
Little Rock — Pat desires to be his own Heir — Rough Stage Traveling and 
several Accidents — Arrival at Fort Smith — The Interposition of United States 
Troops often required to settle disturbances among the Cherokees, and be- 
tween the latter and their Arkansas neighbors — The Cherokees a Warlike 
Race. 

Fort Smith, Arkansas, September 3d, 1850. 

I REACHED here on the twenty-third of last 
month, after a tedious journey from Fort Leaven- 
worth. As my children, if I ever have any, will fly 
through this country on the swift railroad car ; and my 
grandchildren, sail over it in some ethereal balloon, or 
flash across it in a pneumatic tube, and may have a 
curiosity of knowing the slow, plodding modes of 
travel now in vogue ; which, by the way, are fast in 
comparison to those of our forefathers, I shall dedicate 
to them the following account of my trip: — 

Having obeyed the order of General Clarke, in ac- 
companying a detachment of recruits to Fort Leaven- 
worth, it became my duty to follow the general instruc- 
tions from the War Department, to report for duty to 
the commanding General of Department No. 7, at 
Fort Smith. The only practical route being via. St. 
Louis, I determined to take passage on the first steam- 
boat for that city. As the first upward-bound boat, 
the Sacramento, touched at the fort just long enough 



26 JOURNAL OF 

to land the mails, and then continued up the river to 
St. Joseph, I became fearful that she might not, on re- 
turning, give me time to get aboard. So I concluded 
to go up the river some five miles to a little town 
called Weston, on the eastern side of the river, and 
there await her return, as she would tarry a few hours 
at that place. 

On my way thither I passed through a forest of 
noble Cottonwood, the cooling shade of which is very 
refreshing in this hot summer weather. On reaching 
the ferry I had to wait until the captain extricated 
some unfortunate cattle who had strayed into the mire. 
Crossing over to Weston I remained there for a few 
days ; and on the first of August took passage on the 
Sacramento, and arrived at St. Louis on the fifth. 

After securing a room at the Planter's House, I 
strolled by gaslight around the city ; which was in a 
ferment over the result of an election that had just 
taken place, and that foreshadowed the political down- 
fall of Thomas H. Benton ; who had represented Mis- 
souri in the United States Senate continuously since 
her admission into the Union in 1821. His term will 
expire next winter. Thirty years in the Senate with 
those intellectual giants, Webster, Clay and Calhoun ! 
Such honor rarely falls to the lot of man. 

The greatest privilege of my life was being able to 
visit the senate-chamber last winter, and to hear these 
renowned men discuss the last great compromise 
measure of Henry Clay. 

I was saddened by the impression that when they 
shall have been called off the stage of life (Calhoun 
lately gone,) there would be no others to take their 



AR3IY LIFE. 



27 



places. Only a few such senators lived in the palm- 
iest days of Rome. 

When in Oregon and California, the forests of the 
stately fir, and majestic redwood perish by fire, they are 
succeeded by thickets of hazel, vine, maple and scrub 
oak. Let us pray that this botanical law will not have 
a parallel in the congress of our great nation; and that 
when the giant minds that now illuminate our political 
sky, like the sunbeams from heaven do our snow-clad 
mountain peaks, shall have burned out in the intensity 
of the fires of their own genius, they may not be fol- 
lowed by a race of moral and intellectual pigmies. 

We must, however, be on the alert. 'Tis not the 
mere expansion of territory- — or the cultivation of sci- 
ence or morals to the highest degree by a few — or the 
possession of great wealth by the many — or yet the 
right of suffrage by all, that can preserve in the coun- 
cils of our nation the wisest and most noble of our race. 
" Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." 

St. Louis was settled by the French in 1 764, while 
Missouri formed a part of the vast territory of Louisi- 
ana, which was purchased from the French during the 
reign of Napoleon in 1 803. It remained a sort of trad- 
ing post until 1804, when the territorial government of 
the United States was extended over Missouri. The 
growth of the town, for the first few years after it came 
into our possession, was necessarily slow; but it is now, 
as all the world knows, fast developing into a magnifi- 
cent commercial mart. 

When many of those great arteries of commerce — 
the railroads— shall have centred in this well-located 
city, her increased prosperity will astound the most san- 



28 JOURNAL OF 

guine. Although the grades of the wholesale business 
streets are about forty feet above low water mark, they 
are sometimes overflowed by the Mississippi River. 
There have been several destructive fires in this part 
of the city during the last few years — having their 
origin in the steamboats lying along the wharf. It 
is said there was not a breath of air stiring at the 
beginning of the last great fire; but that the heat of 
the first burning boat created a sufficient breeze to 
carry the vessel among the other boats and set them 
on fire, which thence spread to the warehouses in the 
vicinity. 

Leaving St. Louis on the steamboat "Concordia," 
we passed slowly down the Mississippi, seeing but lit- 
tle to attract attention. At the mouth of the Ohio we 
witnessed a similar phenomenon to that of the union 
of the Missouri and Mississppi — I allude to the junc- 
tion of the Ohio with the latter river. This being be- 
low the entrance of the Missouri, the Mississippi is of 
course turbid, whilst the Ohio is, at this season, as 
transparent as a crystal. 

Arriving at Memphis, Tennessee, the Captain in- 
formed us that he would remain there at least a day, in 
order to discharge and take in freight. The boats 
coming down the Missouri are laden principally with 
hemp, whilst those running from St. Louis to New 
Orleans, unless they secure full cargoes at the former 
city, take in cotton and sugar along the river. 

In the vicinity of Memphis I had an opportunity of 
seeing plantations of this great staple production of 
the South — cotton. I have never experienced such 
warm weather as at Memphis. The thermometer 



ARMY LIFE. 



29 



(Fahrenheit's) on the boat was at 2 p. m. generally 103 
in the shade. This, however, is an unusually warm 
summer in the South. 

Memphis contains about thirteen thousand inhabi- 
tants; but will never grow very rapidly until she se- 
cures good railway connections. The most important 
public work in the vicinity is a United States Navy 
Yard; which of course gives employment to a vast 
number of laborers and mechanics. A short distance 
out of town there was in course of erection a very fine 
cotton factory. 

After being here a day, the Captain informed us that 
he would certainly leave in a few hours, and that we 
had better remain on board. We were detained a day 
longer; and he would not have started then, had not 
an opposition boat come puffing down the river; when 
he suddenly fired up and started, leaving quite a num- 
ber of his passengers behind. 

We arrived at Napoleon, at the mouth of the Ar- 
kansas River, on the eleventh of August. This is the 
sorriest excuse for a town I have ever seen. I was 
very fortunate in finding here five very agreeable 
young gentlemen, awaiting conveyance up the Arkan- 
sas. Col. Philip St. George Cooke had informed me, 
when at Carlisle Barracks, that I should find on the 
Arkansas River only a set of gamblers and cut-throats. 
The gentlemen mentioned were merchants and plant- 
ers traveling on business into the interior of Arkansas. 

We left there on the fourteenth in a very small 
steamboat; and after going about one hundred miles, 
were transferred to a still smaller one. We had not 
gone far on the latter ere she stranded on a sand-bar. 
Here we lay for half a day. 



30 JOURNAL OF 

On reaching Pine Bluffs, the Captain told us that he 
could not go to Little Rock and return in time for the 
next mail, and that we might either remain aboard and 
return for the mail in the course of two days, and 
then go up; or take the mail stage at this place, and 
he would refund a part of our boat fare; for we had 
paid through to Little Rock. After five of our party 
had hired a private conveyance, the Captain not only 
refused to refund any part of the boat fare, but stoutly 
denied ever having promised to do so. A row, be- 
tween the passengers on one side, and the boat's 
officers and crew on the other, seemed for a while inevi- 
table ; but, after blustering for a few minutes, the Cap- 
tain paid back a part of the fare. As the private 
conveyance and the stage were too much crowded, 
some of the passengers, including myself, remained 
aboard the boat until she returned for the mail, and 
finally reached Little Rock. On her way up she was 
grounded on sand-bars a great many times. 

At Little Rock I put up at the Anthony House, 
where I remained three days. The hotel being crowded, 
Major Robert S. Garnett, of the seventh infantry and 
myself had to occupy the same room and the same 
bed. This town of two thousand inhabitants, is full 
of lawyers and doctors; there being about thirty of 
the former, and fourteen of the latter. 

One morning, quite a number of gentlemen were 
sitting in front of the hotel, enjoying their otium cum 
dignitate^ when a man came up and said, "Doctor, a 
boy is waiting at your office for you." Instantly three 
or four gentlemen got up, when one of the party re- 
marked, "for Heaven's sake, don't all go." It appears 



ARMY LIFE. 3 1 

that it was Dr. Webb who was wanted. He is a very 
comical gentleman. At a small town where he had 
previously been, he happened to be both doctor and 
judge. An Irishman, leaving the place for New Or- 
leans, and not returning tor a long time, it got into the 
papers that he was dead. His estate was settled, and 
the property turned over to his heirs. Pat, returning 
in the meantime, demanded of Judge Webb his goods 
and chattels ; but was informed by his honor that his 
estate had been administered upon in due form, and 
the property divided among the heirs, and that he 
could not go behind the record. "Faith," says Pat, 
"and can't I be one of the heirs then?" 

Between Little Rock and Fort Smith we traveled 
in a stage-coach, v/hich was heavily laden with the 
United States mail, besides a number of passengers, 
We got along slowly and roughly for about thirty 
miles, when in being ferried across a narrow but ex- 
ceedingly deep stream, we narrowly escaped drowning. 
It was 2 A. M. — the moon having gone down — and the 
place surrounded with thick woods, darkness reigned 
supreme. Having crossed over, our team, owing to 
the steepness and slipperiness of the bank^ and the 
heavy load, were unable to pull up the hill, and let the 
stage run suddenly back against the boat ; thus break- 
ing some of the fastenings, and knocking the latter 
several feet from the shore. Had the main rope given 
way, the stage and team, at least, would have sunk to 
the bottom of the sloueh. After much toil and tribu- 
lation, we managed to extricate the vehicle from its 
perilous situation, and proceeded on our journey. 

In getting over, we found that the only damage 



32 JOURNAL OF 

done to the sta^e was the breaking of several spokes 
of one of the wheels. This gave us much uneasiness, 
as we had yet to travel in this conveyance twenty 
miles. The driver told me that he would be compelled 
to put out some of the baggage. Having paid extra 
fare on account of it, I was determined that he should 
do no such thing, especially as I had already walked 
up every hill, because there were only two horses to 
the stage, when the company should have sent at least 
four. 

The Stage Company's contract with the United 
States for carrying the mail is said to be very lucra- 
tive ; hence there is no excuse for such miserable 
coaches and teams as are now employed on this route. 
The next vehicle to which we were transferred broke 
down after a few miles travel. The third one, having 
no rubbers or brakes to the wheels, went so fast, down 
a steep hill, that the driver was thrown from his seat, 
and would have been crushed to death, but for the 
fortunate circumstance of his throwinof his weight on 
the foot-board, or sweep, which being iron, bent and 
caught a spoke of the right fore wheel — thus checking 
the stag-e. 

The greatest inconvenience of traveling over this 
route is, that one is three days without any sleep. In 
fact, they hurry us on day and night, over one of the 
roughest roads any poor mortal ever journeyed — not 
even allowing sufficient time for meals. An occasional 
glimpse at a flock of wild turkeys, or a swift bounding 
deer, made me wish for an opportunity to try my luck 
at hunting this species of game. 

Arrivinor at the town of Fort Smith about eleven 



AJ?MY LIFE. 



33 



o'clock at night, we stopped at Captain Roger's hotel. 
Our host is a fat, jolly old pioneer, and is the original 
town proprietor. The place numbers about one thou- 
sand inhabitants, and is growing slowly. It takes its 
name from a fort in its immediate vicinity. After a 
good night's rest — being the first since leaving Little 
Rock — I donned my uniform and reported myself to 
the Commanding General of Department No. 7 — Gen- 
eral Mathew Arbuckle — who told me to remain at Fort 
Smith until he could secure me a small escort on my 
journey to the new post about to be established in the 
Indian Territory. In due course of time I was of 
course invited to dine with the General, and subse- 
quently with each of his staff officers. Several pleas- 
ant families in the adjoining town also extended to 
me invitations to parties; thus enabling me to form 
the acquaintance of some very agreeable people. 

The Surgeon of the post. Dr. Joseph H. Bailey, 
very kindly accompanied me in a few gallops around 
the country. On our return from one of these trips, 
we were attracted by a crowd of persons on Water 
street, looking very intently at the freaks of two 
drunken Cherokee Indians — a man and his wife — who 
were crossing the Arkansas River opposite the town. 
They would have drowned, had not timely assistance 
been extended to them by a couple of the spectators. 

In defiance of stringent United States laws against 
selling liquor to Indians, they frequently obtain it in 
large quantities; hence many bloody frays among 
themselves and with the border settlers. The interpo- 
sition of the troops stationed at Fort Smith and Fort 
Gibson becomes frequently necessary, to preserve law 



34 JOURNAL OF 

and order among the Cherokees and their Arkansas 
neighbors. The former station is on the border Hne 
between the State of Arkansas and the Indian Terri- 
tory; and the latter is about sixty miles northw-est of 
Fort Smith. 

It will be remembered that the Cherokees lately 
resided in the State of Georgia, and have quite recently 
been removed to this section of country, where they 
are farming on a small and rude scale. Many of them 
still refuse to do anything except fish and hunt, oppor- 
tunities for which abound in this beautiful prairie 
country. These Indians for many years inhabited the 
upper portion of the State of Georgia, one of the 
finest regions of the United States. They were at 
one time a very warlike people, and after numerous 
conflicts with neighboring tribes — especially the Shaw- 
nees, whom they drove out of that part of the country 
about the year 1600 — they finally established their 
possessory right to the soil, and were supported in this 
claim by a solemn treaty of the United States, 

The Cherokees assisted the Colonies in the capture 
of Fort Du Quesne (the present site of Pittsburg) in 
1758, but soon after became embroiled in a border 
war with the English settlers of Virginia. Peace was 
made with them in 1761. During the war of the Rev- 
olution they sided against the Colonies, and in favor 
of the British. In the war of 181 2, however, they 
aided the United States, and did good service in help- 
ing to subjugate the hostile Creek Indians. They were 
gradually advancing in civilization when the State of 
Georcfia demanded their removal from the homes and 
graves of their kindred to their present abode in the 



A/^MY LIFE. 



Far West. At first, only about one third of them 
could be induced to emigrate; the remainder, under 
their head chief, John Ross, obstinately refusing for 
several years to leave the soil of their forefathers. 

They are now, however, all established in a beauti- 
ful section of the Indian Territory, lying west of the 
State of Arkansas, under the government of their old 
chief, John Ross, who is an educated, and, in many 
respects, a remarkable man. 



36 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER V. 

INTO THE INDIAN COUNTRY. 

Departure from Fort Smith into the Indian Country with only a stupid Team- 
ster — First effort at making Coffee — Choctaw Ball-play — Remarks concern- 
ing these Indians — A dreary Travel in the Dark — Charming Landscape — 
Supper on broiled Squirrel and stony Biscuit — Knowing winks of the roguish 
Mules — The Teamster's Nightmare — Left alone all night without Weapons in 
a dismal Forest, and serenaded by Wild Beasts Arrival at Fort Washita. 

Camp Arbuckle, Indian Territory, September 2 2d, 1850. 

THE commanding general not being able to furnish 
me with the small escort promised, I concluded to 
proceed to my station via Fort Washita, which made my 
journey a little longer than the direct route would have 
been. I accordingly left Fort Smith on the seventh 
inst., mounted on a horse, which I purchased in the 
town, accompanied by the quartermaster's wagon, con- 
taining among other things my baggage. 

After traveling about three miles my driver informed 
me that he would have to await for another teamster 
as he was sick. It appears that before leaving Fort 
Smith he had reported to Captain Alexander Mont- 
gomery, the quartermaster, his inability to undergo the 
fatigue of the trip, and that the latter told him to drive 
a few miles, and in the meantime he would secure a 
substitute, who would overtake and relieve him. 

In a short time he was relieved by the arrival of the 
new teamster. The change, as the sequel will prove, 
turned out to be a bad one for me. For the last 
driver, being obtaiyed in a hurry, soon gave evidence 



ARMY LIFE. 37 

of hk total unfitness for the position. He was green 
and awkward, and totally unacquainted with the road. 
He drove a slight distance, when banof went the wao^on 
against a tree, that the mules themselves would have 
avoided had they been uncontrolled. The result of 
this carelessness was a cracked wagon-tongue. 

Having started at noon we made only thirteen miles 
the first day, and encamped for the night near a little 
stream, which furnished water for our team, and for a 
pot of coffee, which I made to the best of my ability, 
whilst the teamster cared for his animals. This, my 
first effort at coffee-making, was conducted more upon 
pharmaceutical principles, than the art de cuisine. I 
succeeded in a primitive way in making at least a de- 
coction, that, when duly sweetened, was palatable to 
hungry palates. 

Experienced travelers on the prairies generally lay 
in a stock of useful kitchen utensils, and other things 
indispensable to convenience in preparing meals at the 
camp-fire; but for some reason or other I failed to 
have anything in the culinary line except a tin coffee- 
pot and frying-pan. As, however, I had a moderate 
supply of crackers and ham, we managed to enjoy our 
frugal repast very much. 

Next morning we started at seven, and moved on 
quite briskly to the Choctaw agency, where we in- 
quired of a negro the route to Fort Washita. He in- 
formed us that he knew the way very well; and that 
we must take the left hand road on reaching the fork 
at the border of the first woods. His advice was fol- 
lowed, but contrary to our own judgment; for the 
right hand road was much plainer, and more traveled, 



38 JOURNAL OF 

and corresponded in these particulars to the informa- 
tion I had gained upon the subject before starting from 
Fort Smith. After travehng the left hand road some 
five miles, we came across a party of Choctaw Indians 
engaged in their national pastime, the ball-play; and 
were told by them that we were on the Fort Towson, 
instead of the Fort Washita, road. However we did 
not regret the colored man's blunder, as it gave us an 
opportunity to witness one of the most interesting 
scenes in the world. 

Before us were several hundred athletic Indian men, 
divested of all clothing, save ornamental breech-cloths, 
fastened by beautiful bead belts around their waists, and 
with tails of feathers or white horsehairs ; and manes, 
on their necks, of horsehair of varigated.colors — their 
bodies being painted in the most brilliant of colors — 
all screaming, yelling, barking, howling, springing, run- 
ning, jumping, tumbling, rolling, struggling, and strik- 
inor at a ball with mio^ht and main. 

In the noise and confusion I was greatly puzzled at 
first to understand the principles of their truly interest- 
ing game. There are two goals, about three hundred 
yards apart, each of which is formed by two upright 
poles, fifteen or eighteen feet in height, and seven or 
eight feet apart, set in the ground, with a cross-piece 
on top. Half way between the goals is the starting 
point, where the ball is thrown up at a certain signal — 
generally the report of a gun — when the struggle 
begins. 

The sticks with which they play are somewhat 
spoon-fashioned — made by taking a green stick, about 
three feet in length, and an inch and-a-half thick, and 



A/?MV LIFE. 



39 



bending the end in an oblong or oval shape, with a net 
work of thongs on one side of this bent portion, so as 
to prevent the ball's passing through when caught. 
With these sticks the players can hurl the ball with 
fearful force. But there are so many ready to catch it 
that it sometimes takes a long time for any one side to 
pass the ball across its goal, and thus count one point 
in the game, which consists of one hundred points. 
Judging from the excited and turbulent manner in which 
the players go to work in this game, there must often 
be many sore shins, limbs and heads before the play is 
ended. 

I may add here that our route from Fort Smith to 
Camp Arbuckle lay in the Choctaw country, an im- 
mense territory ceded to the Choctaws by the United 
States, in 1831, and lying south of, and adjacent to, 
the country of the Greeks and Cherokees. These 
Indians occupy but a very small part of their land, 
which extends from the western border of Arkansas 
five and a half degrees west, and is bounded on the 
north by the Canadian, and on the south by the Red 
river; the west half of it being within the range of the 
wild Indians of the prairies — especially the Comanches, 
whom they fear almost as much as the white settlers 
of Texas and New Mexico do. In fact it is mainly 
with the view of preventing hostilities between these 
partly civilized Indians, and the wild tribes, that our 
new post is to be established, the United States having 
stipulated, in its treaty with the Choctaws, to keep up 
a certain number of military stations on the borders of 
their country for a specified time. 

The Choctaws number about twenty-two thousand 



40 JOURNAL OF 

in population, and are gradually becoming civilized. 
They once lived upon the Gulf of Mexico, just west 
of the Mississippi river, and have always been, as a 
tribe, peacefully disposed. Some of them have fine 
farms, on which they raise wheat, potatoes, melons, 
squash and corn. The great majority, however, appear 
to lead an idle, dissolute life, depending on the small 
annuities allowed them by our government, and on 
such game as they may chance to find in their hunting 
expeditions. Their laws are similar to those of the 
United States, but are seldom rigidly enforced. They 
have one pretty good school ; and support a small 
newspaper, published in their own language. 

The fact of these Indians living so many years in 
Mississippi, and Alabama, in communication with the 
whites, and being no further advanced in the simple 
arts and sciences, is proof that civilization is a process 
requiring more than one generation for even moderate 
development. 

Having satisfied our curiosity concerning the ball- 
play, we, in accordance with information gained from 
one of the chiefs, retraced our steps a mile, and striking 
across a prairie, soon regained the Washita road ; along 
which we hurried in order to reach a house called the 
"Bluffs," kept by a half-breed Indian. Night coming 
on, we passed the place unknowingly ; and soon found 
ourselves in a large timbered bottom, where it was so 
dark that the driver, being unable to guide his mules, 
gave them a loose rein to find the road themselves. 
After groping along in this manner for several miles, 
we encamped on the margin of a prairie, both of us 
sleeping in the wagon, as on the previous night. 



AJ^MY LIFE. 



41 



We made an early start on the third day. The 
country grew gradually more and more interesting. 
The gracefully undulating prairies covered with green 
grass, and a profusion of wild flowers of variegated 
colors, and bounded in the dim distance by azure 
mountain hues, gave the landscape an indescribable 
charm. 

When the novelty wore off, these picturesque scenes 
became somewhat monotonous ; but the intense enjoy- 
ment their first appearance produced, afforded us a 
realizing sense of the true beauties of nature. 

Having killed a few squirrels during the day, I com- 
menced, on our arrival in camp, to cook them for our 
evening's repast. They were split open, and spread 
upon forked sticks, and broiled by the fire. 

The mules having poked their heads into the wagon 
on the night previous, and devoured all my crackers 
and salt, it became necessary for me to try my hand at 
baking biscuit. I have often heard of the festival of 
unleavened bread, celebrated by our Jewish brethren 
in commemoration of the Passover, but fail to under- 
stand how they can work themselves into a very 
thankful frame of mind on such bread as I manufactured 
on that particular occasion. It was so hard that the 
roguish mules, who devoured my crackers, winked 
knowingly at each other, as I carefully put away the 
remnants for next morning's early breakfast; and 
seemed to say, Doctor, you have no need to fear our 
foraging propensities to-night, if that be your best 
effort in the art of baking- bread. 

My teamster evidently did not belong to the family 
of croakers, as he partook of the frugal meal set before 



42 JOURNAL OF 

US, of broiled squirrel, without salt; stony biscuit, 
minus butter ; and a decoction of coffee, with no milk ; 
as though it were good enough for a prince. That 
night he came near stampeding the team by his horrid 
yells, in a paroxysm of the nightmare. I don't be- 
lieve, however, that the poor fellow realized, as I did, 
that his attack was produced by too much hard biscuit 
in the stomach. 

The fourth, fifth and sixth days passed over without 
any unusual occurrence ; and also the seventh, until 
night. We were then within twelve miles of Fort 
Washita ; but as we had traveled hard all day, it was 
deemed advisable to encamp on what we supposed to 
be Blue river. The sun being an hour high, and the 
mules needing grass, the driver tied them in pairs, and 
turned them loose to gfraze. I cautioned him not to 
allow them to get out of sight. After bathing myself in 
the river, and returning to the wagon, I was surprised at 
not being able to see the animals; but, on being assured 
by the man that he had just been to look after them, 
and found them and my horse quietly grazing in a 
small prairie not far off, I dressed myself leisurely, and 
then started to look after the mules. But to my great 
disappointment could find neither them or the prairie. 

It was very evident that the fellow had lied to me. 
I went back and ordered him to hunt after the animals 
as speedily as possible. He asked the loan of my 
shotgun, which I permitted him to take. Hour after 
hour passed away without the return of the teamster. 
I began to feel uneasy both for his and my own safety. 
There I was alone at midnicrht in a dense forest, in an 
Indian country, without weapons of defense, far from 



ARMY LIFE. 



43 



any white habitations, and within the range of the wild 
Indians of the prairies. As the man failed to report 
himself by one o'clock at night, I concluded to retire. 
I was awakened from my first nap by a serenade from 
hundreds of wild birds and beasts. I had read of In- 
dians imitating the cries of animals, and at first im- 
aeined that some of the Choctaws miofht have known 
of my lonely situation, and were getting up a little fun 
at my expense. There must have been at least a 
dozen kinds of wild birds and beasts represented in this 
forest menagerie — all quacking, hooting, barking, yelp- 
ing, growling, screaming and howling at the same time. 
I could distinguish the noise of ducks, cranes, owls, 
wolves, and perhaps panthers and bears. Whether 
such gatherings of wild animals were ever heard of in 
this dark and dismal forest before, I know not ; nor do 
I care to be again a lonely auditor of their tartarean 
chants. 

It is a common thing for wolves to entertain travelers 
by howling in the dead hour of the night ; but when 
they do, other animals, and wild birds, are usually 
silent. They must have been holding a peace con- 
vention on that particular occasion. I fancy that a 
discharge from a double-barreled fowling-piece might 
have created quite a commotion among my uninvited 
guests. But being minus the very essential weapon, I 
remained quietly in bed until the noise ceased, and then 
fell asleep, to be disturbed no further, except by those 
pests of warm climates, the mosquitoes. 'Tis said 
that wild Indians sometimes torture their prisoners 
almost to death by stripping them naked, and securing 
their hands and feet together, and then tying them up 



44 JOURNAL OF 

to a stake, to the mercy of these annoying insects. 
Let him who beheves this to be a mild kind of punish- 
ment try the experiment of sleeping in the open air 
without a mosquito bar, on the banks of some of our 
southwestern streams, in the latter part of summer, or 
beginning of autumn. 

Ox\. the following morning, after partaking of a cup 
of coffee and a few bites of my unleavened biscuit, I 
started on a tour of reconnoisance ; but could see or 
learn nothing of my driver or the mules. Neither could 
I ascertain anything in relation to the vast assemblage 
of wild animals around my camp-fire on the night 
previous — unless the burning of the neighboring 
prairies had driven them into the timber for shelter. 
Saving the barking of squirrels, and the chirping of 
small birds, everything was supremely quiet, all 
nature seemed at rest. Had there been no other 
valuables in the wagon than my own baggage, 
I would have proceeded on foot to Fort Washita for 
assistance ; but under the circumstances concluded to 
stand cruard over the things until some one made an 

o o 

appearance. 

Late in the afternoon I was delighted to perceive 
coming along the road, in a two -horse ambulance, a 
couple of gentlemen ; who proved to be Lieutenant 
Edward F. Abbott, of the Fifth Infantry, and Doctor 
Elisha J. Bailey, of the army. They informed me that 
my driver had found his way into Fort Washita about 
ten o'clock that morning, and that they had come to 
take me in ; and that the quartermaster had sent along 
four horses to haul in the wagon. The horses were 
soon in sight — also the mules, the driver having found 



ARMY LIFE. 



45 



them on his way back. The horse he had caught the 
night before, and ridden him as far as an Indian 
hut, three miles from our place of encampment, where 
he staid until the next morning, and then went to the 
fort in pursuit of the mules. The driver had lived all 
his life on the border, and consequently felt uncon- 
cerned about his own safety — especially as he had my 
gun — but had never before been employed in any 
capacity in the military service, or else he would have 
deemed it his duty, on not finding the stray animals on 
the night previous, to have returned to camp, and re- 
ported accordingly. 

On arriving at Fort Washita I was the guest of Dr. 
Bailey and his estimable wife ; under whose kind hospi- 
talities I soon felt like a new man. I believe it is a 
well-established maxim of etiquette that one can pay 
no greater compliment to the hostess than by showing 
a proper relish of her viands. Mrs. Bailey, I am cer- 
tain, will bear me out in the assertion, that I proved 
myself in this respect, on the evening of my first meal 
at her table, exceedingly complimentary. 

During my short stay at that post I was invited to 
several very pleasant little garrison parties. I soon 
learned that one of the gentlemen. Lieutenant Abbott, 
who so kindly assisted me out of my late trouble, was 
an acknowledged practical joker. How it happened 
that he allowed so splendid an opportunity to pass by 
of playing a joke upon me, on coming to my rescue, I 
cannot understand. Perhaps his companion. Dr. Bailey, 
having the honor of the medical corps at heart, held this 
fun-loving son of Mars in check, by introducing them- 
selves before any trick could be played upon me. I 



46 JOURNAL OF 

was delif^hted to find that the commandinof officer of 
Fort Washita, Colonel Dixon S. Miles, was an old 
Baltimorean. I had also the satisfaction of meeting 
here Captain Randolph B. Marcy — the commander of 
the camp whence I was bound. He told me that we 
would start for our new home in three days ; it being 
distant from Fort Washita in a nearly western direction 
about seventy miles. 

Fort Washita is in the Choctaw country, not far 
from the northern boundary of Texas. It was estab- 
lished a few years ago in accordance with a treaty 
stipulation with these Indians ; and also to preserve 
order on the frontier of Texas. A little village has 
sprung up near the post called Rucklesville, but can 
never grow into that importance that such nuclei of larger 
towns near military stations, sometimes asesume. The 
site of the post commands a fine landscape view of the sur- 
rounding country, which is mainly a succession of rolling 
prairies. Over these great natural meadows vast herds 
of buffalo were wont to roam ; and that too until within 
a very few years. 

It was near that place where the gallant General 
Leavenworth lost his life a short time ago, from a spell 
of sickness which had its pre-disposing origin in a fall 
he received whilst pursuing a herd of buffalo. This 
officer was in command, at the time, of the first regi- 
ment of Dracroons, which was Qroino- on a reconnoiter- 
iug tour through the wild Indian country, in order to 
cultivate the acquaintance of those arabs of the western 
prairies — the war-like Comanches. The latter Indians, 
and the Pawnees, have until quite recently been the 
terror of this section of country. 



AJ?My LIFE. 47 

The fate that Judge Martin met at the hands of one 
of these tribes a few years ago, may serve as a warn- 
ing to adventurous frontiermen. This wealthy, but 
rather eccentric, gentleman was in the habit of taking 
his children and colored servants every summer out on 
these wild plains, and spending several months in 
chasing the buffalo. A roaming party of Indians at 
last came upon the Judge and killed him — and took 
his son into captivity. This circumstance is mentioned 
as a mere sample of many somewhat similar occurrences 
in border life in this charmingly beautiful, yet danger- 
ous, region. 

Our route from Fort Washita to this camp lay 
mostly through lovely undulating prairies, covered 
with nature's carpet of green grass and wild flowers in 
profusion, except where the fire-fiend had blackened 
the earth with his foul and consuming breath. 

The view on these great natural meadows seemed 
to be confined only by streaks of cottonwood along 
the streams, and occasional groves of oak on the high 
grounds. Interspersed at intervals of a few miles were 
also patches or thickets of wild plum trees. The soil 
of this magnificent country is deep and rich, affording 
a future home for thousands of agriculturists, but at 
present rarely traveled over even by the owners of the 
soil — the Choctaws. 

After one gets a few miles westward of Fort Wash- 
ita, there is not to be seen a single hut, or other evi- 
dence of settlement, by these Indians. The nomades 
of the prairie have it all to themselves. I found 
Captain Marcy a very entertaining traveling compan- 
ion — full of narrations of wild border life. It was 



48 JOURNAL OF 

truly amusing to hear him tell some of his choice 
anecdotes ; which he always did without a ripple on 
his smooth countenance until he found the story ap- 
preciated by his auditors — then his expressive eyes 
and smiling face indicated a keen relish for the ludi- 
crous aspect of human life. He is not much given to 
practical jokes ; but, during the first night of our 
journey, as we were quietly passing through a cotton- 
wood bottom, the almost human-like hooting of an 
owl caused him to suddenly halt, and exclaim in a low 
mysterious voice — Indians! Indians! There were 
several of us in company, but being the latest arrival 
in the Indian country, I thought it was done to try my 
courage. So I laughingly remarked that the people 
born in the woods ought not to be frightened by an 
owl. 

We arrived at our present camp on the night of our 
second day out from Fort Washita, and found every- 
body but the guard asleep. The officers soon got up, 
and welcomed us by a jolly shake of the hand ; and 
the offer of something to drink. Every one but my- 
self joined in a social glass. 

"What! a tee-to-taler f exclaimed the sutler. 
"My dear sir, you will lay this abstinence all aside after 
being in this dull place a few months." I took the 
remarks as intended, as a mere bit of pleasantry, but 
will here state, that although I have seen a good deal 
of drinKmg among the officers of the army, yet, as a 
class, they are gentlemanly polite even when largely 
under the influence of liquor, and rarely make rude 
and oftensive remarks to persons difiering from them 
in tastes, habits, inclinations, or principles. 



A/?My LIFE. 



49 



Our camp is named after the commanding general 
of this military department — Camp Arbuckle — and 
was selected by Captain Marcy under general instruc- 
tions from the War Department ; but the site does not 
meet the approval of General Arbuckle, who desires it 
to be established further south. We are consequently 
livinor in tents, awaiting further orders from our 
superior officer, before erecting log cabins for quarters. 
Everything, as yet, in and around camp appears strange 
and novel to me. How I shall fancy this isolated life 
cannot yet be determined. I think it prudent to culti- 
vate a taste for hunting, as Captain Marcy is a pupil of 
the celebrated Captain Martin Scott, and can initiate me 
me into the mysteries of western sportsmanship. 

By the by, I must relate a good joke I accidently 
played on the Captain the other day. He, with other 
officers, was practicing rifle shooting at a target, placed 
some seventy-five yards off. After they had all fired 
without striking the "bull's-eye," the Captain turned 
around and said to me, whilst castino- significant 
glances at the other officers, perhaps, Doctor, you can 
be more successful. Although a good shot with a 
bird-gun, I never had much experience with the rifle, 
yet concluded to try my luck. So nerving myself for 
a master stroke, I knocked a hole through the very 
center of the mark. The Captain was evidently puz- 
zled at this remarkable shot from a city novice, and 
urged me to try again. Having luckily shifted the 
joke upon him, I prudently and politely declined to 
make any further display of my marksmanship, but 
rested on my laurels — knowing full well that it would 
be impossible for me to sustain my sudden, and acci- 



^O JOURNAL OF 

dental, reputation of being a crack marksman. I 
think, however, that the officers shrewdly suspected 
that my shot was what is called, among billiard 
players, "a scratch." 

Having alluded to Captain Martin Scott I shall here 
relate one of the many anecdotes told of him by 
Marcy. Captain Scott and several friends, being out 
hunting, discovered on the top of a very tall tree a 
raccoon. All of the latter separately took a pop at 
the coon without effect. Finally Captain Scott con- 
cluded to try his luck. He elevated his rifle, and was 
on the eve of pulling the trigger, when the coon said 
" hold on — who are you ?" " My name is Scott," re- 
plied the captain. "What Scott?" inquired the coon. 
"Why, Captain Scott." "Are you Captain Martin 
Scott?" "Yes." "Then don't shoot — I'll come 
down." 






A/?My LIFE. 



CHAPTER VI. 

AT CAMP ARBUCKLE. 

Living in Tents and temporary Log Cabins — Commissioned Officers mess together 
— Mrs. Marcy's first attempt at, cooking — Love in a Cottage and Love in a 
Frontier Cabin contrasted — Proposed exchange of Wives between an Indian 
Chief and Marcy — Too much hard work and not enough Military Instruction 
— Hunting instead of Fatigue Parties — Several Hunting Trips — Killed the 
first deer — Alarmed by Indians and swim the River — Lost my way — Headed 
off by two Wild Indians — Hunting Deer with a Hog — Kill another Deer, 
which was claimed by Updegraff — Almost Frozen to Death — Christmas Bill of 
Fare — Army and Navy Mess — Cherokees and their Negro Prisoners— Chero- 
keesand Creeks — Burning Hay to save it: Hey! — Genuine Prairie Fire — Rattle- 
snakes, Centipedes and Tarantulas — Compass Plant — Sad news from Home. 



^ 



Camp Arbuckle, Indian Territory, April 2d, 1851. 
T E are still at the camp established last autumn, 



one mile south of the main branch of the Can- 
adian River, but anticipate removing to a new site on 
Wild Horse Creek, a tributary of the False Washita 
River, in the latter part of this month. 

Our command, consisting of Company D, fifth in- 
fantry, lived in tents until last December, when the 
expected orders for changing our location not having 
arrived, we hastily constructed rude log cabins for win- 
ter quarters. These are one story high, with floors of 
puncheons, and roofs of clapboards, in lieu of shingles. 
The chinks, or spaces between the logs, are filled in 
with strips of wood, on which is spread, both within 
and without, mud mixed with straw. Our chimneys 
are constructed of short pieces of puncheons, and are 
well plastered inside and out with a kind of clayey 



52 JOURNAL OF 

loam. The men occupy a long building about twenty- 
five by two hundred feet, divided into about four 
rooms, besides the kitchen. They sleep on rude bunks, 
made of split logs and clapboards, placed two and a 
half feet from the floor. There are four of these log 
huts for the commissioned officers. A double one for 
the commanding officer. Captain Marcy, and a single 
one, or cabins with only one room, for each of the 
Lieutenants — Frederick Myers and Joseph Updergraff 
— and myself. 

We all mess together at Captain Marcy 's quarters; 
where our meals are superintended by that jewel of a 
lady — his wife. She has been with us only a few 
months, and expects soon to take her departure east; 
as the wild and isolated country whither we are ordered, 
would be too uncomfortable for even such a veteran as 
herself Being reared in ease, elegance, and social 
refinement, she had many hardships to contend with 
in early married life, whilst accompanying her gallant 
husband in frontier service. Yet, among all her diffi- 
culties, nothing ever occurred to mar — for the time 
being — her domestic happiness so much, as an utter 
inability, on one occasion shortly after marriage, to 
prepare a meal for her liege lord and a few invited 
guests, when her servant had suddenly left her; as this 
class of persons are so apt to do when most needed. 
Although she failed to cook well, she wept to per- 
fection, on beholding the meanly-cooked dinner that 
had been prepared after so much tribulation. 

Her husband, like a perfect gentleman as he is, in- 
stead of expressing any disappointment at her want of 
success, as married men sometimes do, consoled his 



ARMY LIFE. 53 

loving wife with the assurance that his guests and him- 
self relished the meal very much, and with a little 
further experience she would be able to cook as well 
as anybody. 

The young officer of the army is not always so for- 
tunate as Captain Marcy, but sometimes marries one 
of those gay butterflies of fashion, who love so well 
to flutter and flirt as ball-room belles. And he finds, 
that while love in a cottage, surrounded by all the 
comforts of wealth and society, may be poetical and 
delightful to his bride, yet when the honeymoon is 
spent in a log cabin on the frontier, with occasionally 
nothing to eat but pork and beans — no music save the 
fife and drum — few visitors, except the naked and hun- 
gry savages — romance often gives way to sad repin- 
ings on the part of his young wife. However, a true 
and noble woman will always adapt herself, as Mrs. 
Marcy did, to the new condition of things. 

While officers of the army do not need their wives 
to be mere cooks, but, as educated gentlemen, should 
marry elegant and refined women, if they marry at all; 
yet these ladies ought to have some practical knowl- 
edge of that most essential part of housekeeping — 
cooking — so as to superintend the preparation of 
meals; and, in rare emergencies, be able and willing to 
try their own delicate hands in the culinary arts. It 
is useful, and frequently necessary, for officers them- 
selves to have a knowledge of cooking, so that they 
can know when their men are properly cared for by 
the company cooks. 

Shortly after Mrs. Marcy arrived here, last winter, 
a band of wild Indians of the prairie made us a call. 



54 JOURNAL OF 

It being their first visit to the abode of the pale faces, 
almost anything they saw excited their curiosity. One 
of them was particularly charmed with some of Mrs. 
Marcy's embroidery, which she happened to exhibit to 
him, and proposed to her husband an exchange of 
wives. Although feeling highly complimented, the 
Captain politely declined the proposition. 

In the erection of our temporary quarters we had 
the assistance of a few carpenters; yet most of the 
work was performed by the soldiers. I am satisfied, 
from my short experience in the service, that it is a 
mistaken economy to keep the men so steadily at hard 
labor, instead of drilling them more thoroughly in the 
most essential of all the principles of military tactics, 
the art of shootingf well. 

If the Government desires to expend as little as 
possible on the army, let her adopt the plan of organ- 
izing among the troops hunting parties instead of 
fatigue parties, whose duty it shall be to supply the 
garrison with fresh meat. This would be a real 
saving at frontier stations like ours — within easy 
range of the buffalo, and all other wild animals 
of the western plains. Give all the men, by turn, a 
chance at this sort of duty, and they will soon learn 
to use firearms with precision, and at the same time 
save more in the commissary department than they can 
possibly do in the quartermaster's department by hard 
work in the erection of quarters, and the making of 
roads and bridges. 

This idea is original with myself, and may be as im- 
practicable as novel — yet I should like to see it tested. 
At all events, if I were at the head of the war depart- 



A/^A/V LIFE. 



55 



ment, the army should be ordered to do less work, and 
more shooting — if only at a target. For most of the 
recruits being foreigners, who never handled a gun 
before enlisting into the United States service, could 
not hit a man at the distance of thirty yards, in a dozen 
trials. What sort of troops are these for Indian fight- 
ing? Of course the older soldiers can shoot better 
than the raw recruits ; but the manner in which they 
learn to handle firearms with effect is by hunting, at 
spare hours, thus proving the correctness of my 
theory. 

The commissioned officers, as a class, are far superior 
shots to the rank and file, simply because they have 
more leisure, and can afford to buy more ammunition. 
The soldiers should at least be allowed one day in 
every week to hunt ; and their ammunition furnished 
them by the government. Hunting is the handmaid 
of war. Search the wide world over, and it will be 
found that those nations or races of mankind who 
follow hunting, either for pleasure or subsistence, are 
the most formidable in war. This is the reason why 
our hearty frontiersmen, when properly disciplined, 
make the best troops for Indian service. The Indians 
of the plains are natural soldiers, because they subsist 
by means of the chase. Such sport is conducive to 
contentment and health. Show me the man who is 
fond of such sport, and I will promise you that where- 
ever he may be placed — whether in the jungles of 
India, or the wilds of America — he will be far more 
satisfied with his exile from home and society, than the 
inactive drone, who lounges at the saloons of stations 
near a town, or at the sutler's store, if in garrison, and 



56 JOURNAL OF 

croaks upon his hard fate, and the ingratitude of the 
government at placing his wonderful self at such out 
of the way stations. As fond as I am of professional 
study and miscellaneous reading, I feel confident that 
the hum- drum life of frontier garrisons would be per- 
fectly intolerable if the chase had no attraction for me. 

It is fortunate that there is at this camp another 
officer, besides myself, who loves this species of 
amusement — Captain Marcy. We occasionally go out 
together, but as the game of this country — deer, wild 
turkeys, geese, ducks, grouse, and bears — are more 
easily reached by the light and cautious approach of 
a single sportsman, than by the almost inevitable noise 
of two or more hunters in company, we have mostly 
gone out alone. We keep the mess supplied with 
game. Hunting parties of the wild Indians, as well as 
of the partially civilized Choctaws, Chickisaws, Chero- 
kees. Creeks, Seminoles, Delawares, and Kickapoos, 
have roamed over this section of the Choctaw country 
so frequently, that the larger species of game, particu- 
larly deer, have become very scarce. So much so indeed 
that Captain Marcy, as experienced as he is, began 
to despair of securing by his own efforts one of these 
animals for the table. In fact, a lucky chance gave me 
the opportunity of carrying off the palm in this respect. 
I made my arrangements^ by an early sick call at the 
hospital, to leave garrison one morning at daylight for 
a stream some seven miles from camp, where it was 
highly probable abundance of those delicious ducks, 
called mallards, could be found. 

The lowering clouds gave strong indications of a 
storm at the hour of starting, but my feverish eager- 



ARMY LIFE. 57 

ness for a few good shots at these wild birds, made 
me heedless of all else except my game. So mount- 
ing my fine Comanche hunter, I galloped to within a 
convenient distance of the hunting ground, then dis- 
mounting and approaching the creek on foot, was 
greatly excited by the quacking of hundreds of ducks. 
In the meantime the rain began pouring down in 
torrents — fortunately I succeeded in keeping my am- 
munition dry — and, under cover of trees, managed to 
get within good range of my game. Discharging one 
barrel at the ducks whilst thickly huddled together in 
an eddy of the sti'eam, and the other as they arose in 
a mass so dense that it seemed impossible for a single 
shot to go astray, I was delighted to find the water 
was covered with trophies of my hunt. Whilst rapidly 
reloading I beheld, a few hundred yards up the creek, 
a deer, stalking deliberately, but carefully, down the 
current. Fearinof that he migrht not continue his 
course so as to come within shooting distance, I 
cautiously changed my position a hundred paces nearer 
him ; and, standing behind an oak tree, watched my 
opportunity to fire just as he moved clear of a bluff 
bank, which screened me from his keen gaze. He 
scented me, but as I was to his leeward, and he was 
sniffing the breeze to the windward, I had a fine op- 
portunity to plunge a whole charge of duck shot into 
his side, over the region of the heart. 

He made a few leaps on three legs for the bank on 
the other side of the creek, when a discharge from the 
second barrel brought him quickly to the ground. I 
crossed over; and after cutting the body in two with- 
out severing the skin, endeavored to throw him in a 



58 JOURNAL OF 

mill-bag' style across my saddle — but being a very 
large buck, his weight baffled my efforts. Putting one 
of my feet into the stirrup, so as to make a fulcrum 
out of my knee, I managed to draw each half, in reg- 
ular succession, up high enough to be tied to the front 
rings of the saddle — a half on each side of the horse. 
In the meantime I could distinctly hear the yelping of 
dogs, the sharp cracks of rifles, and the yelling of 
Indians, in the timber a short distance up the creek. 
The deer that I had just killed had evidently been 
pursued by them; and had taken to the water to elude 
the scent of their dogs. In fact there was a slight and 
recent flesh-wound in one of his hips made by a rifle 
ball or an arrow. 

I hurriedly recrossed the stream, and after securing 
such of my ducks as had not been carried down the 
current, galloped towards the garrison, glancing back 
repeatedly to see if I was pursued; for the Indians 
must have been almost in siofht when I started. I 
presume, from the fact of their using rifles, that they 
were what is known as partially civilized Indians. 
Could I have been certain of that, of course there 
would have been but little occasion for alarm — but 
some of the hostile Indians use g-uns also. 

On reaching the Canadian river, I found that it had 
risen several feet, and would undoubtedly swim my 
horse, who, being so heavily packed with game, would 
have a severe struggle to reach the opposite bank. To 
have cut loose the ducks and deer would have rendered 
his crossing over an easy matter. But then the In- 
dians or the wolves would have glutted over my mis- 
fortune; and my companions in camp might have been 



A/^AIY LIFE. 59 

a little incredulous concerning the killing of so much 
game. So I resolved to take the chances, and plunged 
into the swift and whirling current, holding my horse's 
head well up stream, and guiding him more by my 
hand than the bridle. Comanche brought me out on 
the opposite side some distance below where I aimed 
to reach. The gallant brute had evidently swam many 
a stream whilst in the possession of his savage master, 
from whom I purchased him, or he could not have 
struggled across the Canadian with such a load as I 
had upon him. Vive la Comanche. I marched into 
garrison as proudly as an Indian warrior with his dozen 
scalps dangling to the breeze. 

Marcy had hitherto hunted exclusively with a rifle — 
of which he had two, one having a double barrel, and 
the other being a very heavy and costly gun, with an 
elevatinor back sig-ht for shooting- at great distances — 
but for some time after my successful hunt he bor- 
rowed my shotgun, thinking that it was, as some of 
the northwestern Indians say, "big medicine." But 
although killing a great many ducks with it, he failed 
to secure a deer, and returned to his first love — the 
rifle. The latter was also my favorite gun for hunting 
the larger game; and I soon learned to handle it well 
and effectively. A few more incidents connected with 
my many hunting trips during our sojourn at this camp 
may not be entirely devoid of interest. 

On one occasion, shortly after my arrival in garrison, 
I went some six miles from camp down the bed of the 
Canadian river, which is nearly dry in the latter part of 
summer and beginning of autumn, and night coming 
on earlier than anticipated, I attempted to reach home 



6o JOURNAL OF 

by a shorter route than the river. Taking an Indian 
trail, which I correctly supposed led toward the garri- 
son, I journeyed along the same for about two miles, 
when it turned, as it appeared to me, in a wrong 
direction. As darkness was setting in, it was impossi- 
ble to retrace my steps; so trusting to the well known 
sagacity of my horse, I gave him a loose rein, and 
after traveling in great suspense for about an hour, I 
was gladdened with the sight of the garrison lights. 
The officers had felt alarmed for my safety. Mrs. 
Marcy said that if I ever frightened them so again she 
would urge her husband to forbid my going out alone 
so far from camp. 

Last summer, whilst returning from a hunting trip 
up the almost dry bed of the Canadian river, my horse 
suddenly pricked up his ears and dashed off in an ex- 
cited manner. On looking- around to discover the 
cause of his excitement, I beheld two mounted Indians 
approaching from the opposite bank of the river at 
full speed, and endeavoring, as I thought, to cut off 
my retreat to the garrison by the only trail near by. 
They were naked, with the exception of moccasins, 
leggins and breech-cloth; and painted in the most 
hideous colors; being also well armed with bows and 
arrows. They were so suddenly upon me that I saw 
at a glance that there was more danger in running 
than fighting. So cocking my rifle — one of Hall's 
breech-loaders — I kept steadily on my course. My 
rifle was very hard on the trigger or I would not have 
cocked it, because there would have been danger of a 
premature discharge by the jolting of the horse. 

As I reached the trail leading from the river to the 



ARMY LIFE. 6 1 

garrison, the two Indians halted ahead of me, and set 
up a most fearful whoop. To state that I was not 
alarmed would be untrue; but I acted far more coolly 
than I ever thought possible under the circumstances — 
feeling determined if they attacked me, to get at least 
one good shot at them. They inquired, by gestures 
or pantomime, the distance to garrison, and then beck- 
oned me to go ahead. I made motions for one of 
them to take the lead, which was finally reluctantly 
done. Under pretense of a friendly chat — in signs of 
course — I kept my eyes on both of them. I saw, by 
an exchange of significant glances, that they knew my 
rifle was ready for action if necessary. After thus 
marching along in single file for a few hundred yards, 
my stranger friends suddenly galloped off into the 
thicket, without even bidding me adieu. 

On returning to garrison, I related the occurrence to 
Black Beaver, a famous Delaware guide, who chanced 
to be there on a visit. From my description he recog- 
nized the Indians as belonging to a band of hostile 
Comanches, at that time roaming in the vicinity, and 
sajd that I had made a narrow escape. In one of my 
hunting rambles I was followed by a pet hog belong- 
ing to the teamsters. I repeatedly endeavored to drive 
him back, but without success. Finding it impossible 
to hunt deer with a hog grunting at my heels, I was 
on the eve of returning to the camp, when I saw a 
fine deer running up the ravine. As he was passing 
within fifty yards of me, the hog gave a grunt, which 
caused the deer to halt suddenly, and gaze curiously at 
his hogship for several moments. Having no time to 
dismount, I fired from the saddle. As my horse was 



62 JOURNAL Oh 

unusually restless, I failed to make a mortal shot, but 
wounded the deer, which I tracked by his blood for 
several miles. Had I had a good dog with me, in lieu 
of the hog, I would in all probability have finally cap- 
tured my game, instead of leaving him to become a 
prey to wolves. Unless a deer be struck in a vital 
part, he is almost certain to elude the hunter — pro- 
vided, of course, that the latter has no dog with him. 
He will do this even though one of his legs be broken. 
As one of many cases in illustration of this point, 
it is only necessary to relate that during the past win- 
ter, being surprised by the fall of a deep snow — a very 
unusual occurrence for this section of the country — we 
started out in three parties a deer-stalking. Captain 
Marcy went in one direction. Lieutenant Updegraff, 
and James Stephens, the post sutler, in another course, 
and I took a third route. After a hard and unsuccess- 
ful day's hunt, I was returning home a little out of my 
beat, when I espied fresh tracks of a deer. Following 
cautiously in pursuit, I soon perceived, from crimson 
spots here and there in the snow, that the deer had 
been wounded. I had gone only a few hundred paces, 
when I beheld him lying down behind a clump of 
bushes. I sent a half ounce ball crushino- into the 
only visible part — his rump. He arose and ran a few 
steps, and fell. On coming up, it became necessary to 
strike him in the head with the butt end of my rifle, 
and to cut his throat besides, before he would give 
under. In fact, he showed a desperate disposition to 
fight. He was a very large buck. On examination, 
I found that one of his fore legs had lately been broken 
by a rifle ball. While skinning him, Lieutenant Up- 



AI?MV LIFE. 63 

degraff and Jim Stevens came riding along, and claimed 
the deer, because they had drawn the first blood. I 
think it very doubtful, however, from the noisy manner 
in which they pursued him, whether they could have 
ever obtained a second shot; and as they had no dogs, 
of course their pursuit would otherwise have been 
fruitless. Captain Marcy, on the same day, broke a 
deer's leg, and trailed him afterwards to the distance 
of eight miles, without success. 

After the deep snow just alluded to, the weather 
grew very cold. The freezing temperature did not 
cool my ardor for hunting in the least. So, a few days 
subsequent to my last jaunt, I sallied forth again in 
the snow. Several miles from camp, I beheld at a dis- 
tance a large flock of geese, all huddled together in a 
small unfrozen spot — a springhead — in a pond situated 
in the bottom of the Canadian. There being no bushes 
or trees to hide my approach, I resolved to crawl on 
all fours over the frozen and snow-covered ground to 
a bunch of tall grass within good gun-shot range of 
the coveted prize. I was so benumbed by the intense 
cold that, having reached the designated place, and 
risen to fire, I fainted just as the gun went off. 
Although everything grew dim and blurred before me, 
and I felt a strong desire to sleep, there was just per- 
ception enough left me to know that unless I should 
make a powerful effort to arouse myself, and keep in 
motion, death from freezing would be the result. If 
insensible at all, it must have been only for a few min- 
utes; for, after rubbing myself a little, I soon found 
strength sufficient to reach my horse, and ride home. 
My friends in garrison did not fail to observe the 



64 JOURNAL OF 

death-like pallor of my blanched cheeks on my arrival 
in camp. Frost-bitten feet was the consequence of 
this foolish trip; and now that warm weather has set 
in, they itch and burn very much; and they will, in all 
probability, be hereafter more susceptible to chillblains. 

Although hunting was our chief amusement, yet 
when young officers from neighboring posts visited our 
camp, we would occasionally mount our fleetest horses, 
and try their speed over the prairies; and, sometimes, 
attempt to run down wolves when we chanced to 
meet them far from ravines or woods. These contests 
were rarely premeditated, but gotten up on the spur 
of the moment. Yet occasionally we would have a 
regular race, except that there was no betting — at 
least none by myself. When I first purchased my 
Comanche hunter; before he had recovered from the 
hard usage given him by the Indian of whom he was 
bought, Lieutenant Myers bantered me for a race with* 
a fine horse of the sutler; he to ride one horse — and 
I the other. On reaching the goal he was half a neck 
ahead. It might be inferred from my remarks about 
hunting, that our mess table was kept well supplied 
with fresh game, however much we lacked many of the 
delicacies to be found in a large city market. 

On last Christmas we had on our bill of fare, bear 
meat, buffalo tongue, prairie hen or grouse, venison, 
wild turkey, duck, goose, quail, and pigeons. Usually, 
however, we have only one or two kinds of game at a 
time. Pigeons are rarely to be found in this vicinity; 
but occasionally make their appearance in vast flocks, 
as was the case for a few days in the latter part of last 
December. They were attracted hither by the mast 



A J? MY LIFE. 65 

or post-oak acorns, to be found in the oak groves in this 
country. In mess arrangements, there is a marked 
distinction between the army and navy. In the 
latter, there are several grades and divisions of messes 
even among the commissioned officers — such as the 
steerage mess, embracing mostly the midshipmen and 
assistant engineers ; the wardroom mess, including medi- 
cal officers, paymasters or pursers, chief engineers, 
chaplain, sailing-master and lieutenants; the captain's 
mess — and if a flag-ship, the commodore's mess. In 
the former all commissioned officers are welcomed to 
the mess — although in some garrisons the commanding 
officer lives by himself. The army regulations seem 
to contemplate this action on the part of the officer in 
command, as it allows him extra pay in the form of 
double rations for the purpose of entertainment. Most 
of the entertaining, however, is generally done by the 
officers' mess, whether the double rationed individual 
happens to be a member or not. Of course no non- 
commissioned officer, or other person below the grade 
of brevet-lieutenant, ever becomes a member of the 
mess. 

We have not yet received many calls from the wild 
Indians of the prairies, but frequently see small parties 
of Delawares, Kickapoos, Osages, Choctaws, Chicka- 
saws, Cherokees, Seminoles and Creeks. A large band 
of the latter tribe passed our camp on the twenty- 
third of last October, having in custody some sixty 
colored slaves, who had run away from their masters, 
the Creeks, and followed Wild Cat, a Seminole chief of 
Floridian notoriety, through the wild Indian country 
toward Mexico. When their masters found them they 



66 JOURNAL OF 

were prisoners of the Comanches, who demanded, and 
received, a ransom for giving them up. The darkeys, 
on being redeemed from capture, decHned to return 
with their masters in a peaceable manner, and made 
an abortive attempt to escape. Their obstinancy pro- 
voked a bloody encounter with the Creeks, as was 
evinced by the number of wounded I saw among the 
negroes. 

The Creeks and Seminoles are our nearest neighbors, 
yet have no settlement in the immediate vicinity of the 
garrison. Most of the latter tribe have left the ham- 
mocks and swamps of Florida, where they cost the 
government so many valuable lives and millions of 
money, and are living in a country just south of that 
lately set apart for the Creeks, who are, in their turn, 
south of the Cherokees. It was owing to an attempt 
by the United States to remove the Seminole Indians 
to the district now occupied by them, that induced 
these Indians, under their head sachem, Micanopy, to 
begin in 1835 a most harassing war upon the white 
settlers of Florida and Georgia. 

Notwithstanding the large number of United States 
troops sent to quell the disturbances, the war lasted 
for nearly seven years. 

The Creeks also gave the government trouble when 
about being sent from Georgia and Alabama to their 
present abode; and at one time made common cause 
with their neighbors, the hostile Seminoles. There are 
still a few of the latter Indians in the swamps and 
everglades of Florida. It will not be long before all 
of them will be induced to come to this new country. 
Major Garnott, United States army, whom I met at 



AJiMY LIFE. 67 

Little Rock, and again at Fort Smith, had a few of 
them with him. 

In conversation the other day with one of their head 
chiefs he told me he remembered me well; as he often 
saw me in Florida during the war. As I had previ- 
ously considered myself a very youthful person, I im- 
mediately consulted my glass for evidence of old age. ' 
But finally came to the conclusion that my visitor had 
poor eyesight. 

The Seminoles and Creeks speak the same language, 
and in fact belono- to the same nation. The former 
word in their tongue signifying runaways, because they 
separated in a body from the rest of their people when 
living east of the Mississippi river; and emigrated 
further south, into the region now embraced in the 
State of Florida, where they gradually extended their 
dominion until they had nearly annihilated a numerous 
band of Indians called the Euchees — a remnant of 
whom they subsequently adopted as a part of their 
own tribe. 

The band of Creeks, which passed our camp last 
October, fired the prairie near by. The government, 
and officers, myself among the number, having a large 
supply of hay endangered by the fire. Lieutenant Up- 
degraff was ordered by Captain Marcy to take a few 
men and fire a broad circle around the hay, so as to 
prevent its burning up. He was strictly enjoined to 
be cautious to keep the fire, to be made by his party, 
well under command; and in order to do so, it was 
suggested to him to burn very small patches at a time. 
The Lieutenant desired to know if the commanding 
officer thought that he, who had been raised in the 



68 JOURNAL OF 

west, and read Shakspeare all his life, was devoid of 
common practical sense. 

The upshot of the whole matter was, that owing to 
a sudden change in the wind, and the grass not being 
very dry, the prairie fire did not come near the ricks 
of hay, but Updegraff s fire did, and consumed them 
all. After that incident, if one happened, in conversa- 
tion with the Lieutenant, to use the interjection hey! 
he would boil over in a moment. 

After witnessing the feeble flickering of the prairie 
fire just mentioned, I began to suspect that travelers 
had drawn largely on their imaginations to call such 
conflagrations sublime. I did not make sufficient 
allowance for the greenness of the grass, the absence 
of strong winds, and the presence of daylight. A few 
weeks subsequently, when the grass had become with- 
ered and parched, the surrounding prairies caught fire 
in various places. The strong wind prevailing at the 
time was soon accelerated by the heat into a hurri- 
cane — thus causing the fiery element to spread with 
amazing rapidity, forming almost an unbroken circle 
around the camp as a common focus. It being a dark 
and cloudy night, the sea of fire illuminated the heavens 
with a reddish yellow glare, as though the very ele- 
ments were about to melt in fervent heat. Oh, that I 
had the power to convey some faint idea of this sub- 
lime sight. Imagine the ocean lashed in billows by 
the tempest; until the crests of her dashing, roaring, 
thundering mountain billows seem to reach the sky — 
instead of water let these swelling waves be flames of 
liquid fire rolling in wild fury over all barriers; and 
you may then have some idea of the awful grandeur 



ARMY LIFE. 69 

of the scene of a prairie on fire on a dark stormy 
night. 

Under such circumstances one is vividly impressed 
with the subHmity of the following lines of the poet: 

"When wrapt in flames the reahns of ether glow, 
And heaven's last thunder shakes the world below. 

To add to the wildness of the scene; on the night 
in question, vast flocks of white cranes, of swan, and 
wild geese, flew to and fro over the lurid flames in 
utter bewilderment and consternation. Although these 
fires are sometimes started by accident, yet they are 
more frequently kindled to aff^ord easier traveling for 
the Indians, and to secure a fresh crop of grass for 
their horses. 

Before the commanding officer could decide 
definitely the exact location of the new post to 
be established on Wild Horse Creek, a tributary 
of the false Washita river — some twenty-five miles 
in a direct line south of our present camp — it be- 
came necessary for me, as medical officer, to re- 
port upon its medical topography, and probable health- 
fulness. 

Accordingly Updegraff and I made the trip there 
and back, without even seeing a wild Indian, although 
it was apprehended at the time of our starting that we 
might be ambushed by roaming bands of Comanches. 
Sleeping on the ground, wrapped in a blanket, is not 
at all unpleasant in moderately fine weather, except 
when mosquitos, tarantulas, centipedes, scorpions, or 
snakes, become too sociable. 

This whole region abounds in insects and reptiles. 
It is no uncommon occurrence for a traveler in this 



yO JOURNAL OF 

country, on awaking in the morning, to find a rattle- 
snake in his bed, or a centipede in his hat, or a most 
hideous chill-inspiring tarantula in his boot. Every- 
body knows how venomous the bites of these horrid 
creatures are. Horses have an instinctive dread of 
them — especially of the rattlesnake. My Comanche 
horse will jump ten feet at the sudden rattle of one 
of these reptiles. And, if made to approach within 
a few feet of one, will tremble like an aspen leaf. A 
very common plant in these western prairies is one 
known as the rattle-weed, which derives its name from 
the fact that its pod is full of loose seed, and makes a 
rattling noise when dry, if touched by the passer-by. 
Both man and beast are often frightened at the simi- 
larity of sound of this insignificant weed to that pro- 
duced by the dreaded rattlesnake. I presume that the 
rattle-weed, like hundreds of more beautiful flowers 
that decorate our south-western prairies, and render this 
region more entitled to the name of the land of 
flowers than even Florida itself, has its use, although 
as yet unknown. 

There is on these vast natural meadows a very use- 
ful, as well as curious, plant, called the compass-plant, 
because the edges of its broad leaves point due north 
and south — thus enabling the traveler, by observing 
their general direction, to know what course to pursue. 
I have never heard any explanation of this phenome- 
non, but presume it is owing to the fact that the 
strongest and most prevalent winds are from the south 
during the early growth of the plant, and that the 
leaves are thus forced to present their edges, instead 
of their broad faces to the breeze. 



ARMY LIFE. 



The traveler in the prairie, if without a compass, will 
observe this plant by day, and the heavenly dipper by 
night — whereas the person who is trying to find his 
way through the woods in the timbered bottoms, will 
look on which part of the trees the moss is generally 
found, knowing that it grows most abundantly on the 
north side. Observations on these natural phenomena 
are often indispensable to the backwoodsman or prai- 
rie traveler. 

Every officer, private soldier, and other employee of 
the government, with the exception of myself, at this 
camp, have had a spell of some form of malarious 
fever, during our short sojourn at this place. Of 
course, they were not all sick at the same time; 
although at one period last autumn there were hardly 
well ones enough to carry on the regular routine of 
garrison duties. In this connection I am forcibly re- 
minded of the trip of the First Regiment of Dragoons, 
under General Leavenworth, a few years ago, through 
this region to the heart of the Comanche country ; and 
of its sufferings from a low type of malarial or inter- 
mittent and remittent fevers. 

Before the return of the expedition to Fort Gibson, 
several commissioned officers, and a large number of 
the men, sickened and died. The gallant commander 
himself might have recovered from an injury received 
in pursuit of a buffalo, as already mentioned, had not 
a miasmatic fever complicated his disease. 

A fort established by the Dragoons, several years 
ago, on the Canadian river, between here and Fort 
Gibson, had soon to be abandoned on account of the 
extreme prevalence of malarial fevers. How we shall 



72 JOURNAL OF 

fare in this respect at our new camp remains to be 
seen. We receive the mail here, by an expressman 
sent to Fort Washita, every two weeks. Only those 
persons exiled as we are, from society, friends, home 
and the daily activity of the great world, can fully re- 
alize the intense interest we all take in the arrival of* 
the mail- carrier. After reading our letters, and perus- 
ing the leading newspapers, and magazines, of the 
day, we feel as though there are many things in this 
great world of more importance than hunting; or 
standing guard on the frontier, to prevent encroach- 
ments of a lot of naked and wild savagres ao^ainst 
Others of their race, removed only a few degrees 
higher in the scale of civilization — such as the partial- 
ly civilized Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks and Chero- 
kees. 

Our letters, of course, do not always bring good 
news, but occasionally tidings of bereavement and 
death. In my last letter from home is the sad an- 
nouncement that grandfather Glisan is no more. He 
lived to the mature old age of eighty-nine. By his 
industry and thrift he accumulated vast wealth for a 
farmer; yet never traveled beyond the limits of his 
native State of Maryland. He owned at one period 
a large number of negroes, but emancipated them all 
before his death, and bequeathed to each of them, 
living at his decease, a handsome legacy. He was an 
honest, intelligent, useful and charitable man — and 
will be greatly missed in the community where he 
lived and died. 



ARMY LIFE. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF FORT ARBUCKLE. 

Change of Location — View of the Washita "Valley — Graves of Comanches — 
Habits and Customs of these Indians — Their Hostility to the Governijient — 
and Threats to Drive everybody out of the Country — An Unoccupied Field 
for Missionaries among them — To Chastise them Mounted Troops Indis- 
pensable — Recruits Worthless — Comanches at home on Horseback — How 
they Subsist and Clothe themselves — They Approach both Friend and Foe 
in a Run. 

Fort Arbuckle, Indian Territory, April 25 th, 1851. 

WE are now encamped in a beautiful oak grove, 
near Wild Horse Creek, and south of our late 
camp on the Canadian, twenty-five, and of the Wash- 
ita river four miles ; west of the State of Arkansas 
two hundred, and north of Texas forty miles. 

It is here that we are ordered to build a permanent 
post, which is to be called Fort Arbuckle, although not 
yet officially recognized by this name. Our latitude is 
34° 27' north, and longitude 97° og' west of Green- 
wich. East and west of us are lovely undulating 
prairies swelling gradually southward into mountain 
ridges, with an elevation of five hundred feet above 
the bed of the Washita. 

To-day several friends and myself rode to the sum- 
mits of several of these mountain peaks, and enjoyed 
one of the most enchanting landscape views in the 
world. Below us lay an almost boundless plain, with 
gracefully swelling mounds and ridges here and there, 
and fringes of timber skirting the Washita, Wild Horse 
Creek, and other streams. We could take in at a 



74 JOURNAL OF 

coup-d'osil, a scope of about fifty miles. Although we 
were twenty-five miles in a direct line from old Camp 
Arbuckle, yet we could distinctly see a grove of oak 
in its immediate vicinity. 

On these mountains we found several mounds of 
stone, where had been deposited from time to time the 
last remains of many of the primeval lords of the soil 
— probably Comanches ; as the skeletons, though dis- 
turbed by the wolves, indicate that the dead were 
originally placed with their faces toward the rising sun. 
These people always bury their warriors on the sum- 
mits of the highest hills and mountain spurs, facing to 
the east — probably out of respect to the sun, which 
they worship as a mediator between them and their 
Heavenly Chief. 

The Comanche Heaven is a great plain, covered 
with grass forever green, and dotted over with vast 
herds of antelope, deer, and buffalo. There the great- 
est degree of happiness is allowed to the man who has 
stolen the most horses, and taken the largest number 
of scalps in this world. 

In the plain below us were the bleached skeletons 
of numerous buffaloes. Although a few of these noble 
animals are still occasionally seen in this neighborhood, 
they no longer come here in vast herds, as has been 
the case until quite recently. Could the warriors who 
now lie sleeoincr in their mountain graves come forth 
and tell us of the scenes they have beheld in the vale 
below, we should probably hear not only of many ex- 
citing chases after buffalo, but of great battles that 
have been lost and won by contending tribes of red 
men. Doubtless the green carpet of grass that now 



ARMY LIFE. 



7S 



covers the surrounding- valley, has often been crim- 
soned o'er by the life-current of thousands of these 
beniehted but brave human being^s. 'Tis sad to think 
that there is no place on God's earth so beautiful and 
retired, that the demon of war, with all his destructive 
train, dare not enter. If the poor Indian could live 
in peace and harmony, what an Eden he would have 
in this lovely country. 

The evil genii of war, pestilence, and famine accom- 
pany man in all stages of civilization, from the sav- 
age Comanche, who roams over the vast plains between 
here and the Rocky Mountains, up to the inhabitants 
of civilized Europe, who are surrounded by all the 
appliances of intellectual, moral, and Christian devel- 
opments. Thus it has ever been and must forever be, 
until the Archangel's trump shall sound the resurrec- 
tion morn. My heart almost bleeds when I think of 
man's inhumanity to man. 'Tis so strange that we 
cannot live out our short span of threescore years and 
ten in peace and harmony, but must always be con- 
tending with our fellow- travelers along the journey of 
life. 

Christianity has done much to soften the asperities 
of human nature; but a vast field of labor still invites 
her energy and constant vigilance, before the world 
can be ready for the millenium. There is as yet an 
untried field for the work of our missionaries among 
the Indians of the south-western plains, who have 
never heard a word of the gospel of our Lord and 
Saviour. The Sioux, Pawnees, and Blackfeet in the 
northwest, and the Nez Perces, Walla Wallas, Uma- 
tillas, Palouses, and Coeur-de-lanes, of the Territory of 



76 JOURNAL OF 

Oregon, have had missionaries sent among them by 
the General Missionary Board; but, so far as I have 
been enabled to learn, no one has ever tried to hoist 
the Cross among the Comanches, Apaches, and other 
large tribes roaming over the extensive south-western 
plains; for the reason, I presume, that these Indians 
are dangerously hostile nearly all the time. They con- 
sider stealing one of the cardinal virtues — especially 
purloining mules and horses from Mexico, whom the 
United States is bound by treaty to protect from their 
depredations. They also look upon New Mexico and 
Texas as natural fields for their predatory operations. 
Possessed of these false notions of right and wrong, 
and knowing little, and caring less, of the power of the 
United States, they are continually bringing themselves 
into disrepute and open hostilities with the Govern- 
ment. 

Shortly after General Leavenworth's expedition 
among the Comanches, a few years ago, they solicited 
and allowed traders to come into their country; but 
recently these venturesome merchants have been plun- 
dered, murdered, or forced to flee for their lives. Not 
even Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees, Delawares or 
Kickapoos, dare go among them at present. 

Whether it is more desirable to attempt conciliating 
these savage freebooters, or send a large force into 
their country, and teach them to respect the govern- 
ment of the United States, and afterward offer them 
terms of peace and friendship, is a hard problem for 
the Indian and War Departments to solve. My old 
professor of physiology used to say: "Gentlemen, the 
first step in digestion is not, as laid down in the books. 



ARMY LIFE. 



77 



'mastication/ but 'food to masticate.' " So, if we go 
to war with the Comanches, the first step in thrashing 
them is to catch them, This cannot be done by in- 
fantry or foot soldiers alone. 

Ten regiments of this species of troops might be 
sent into the Comanche country, and kept there for 
years, without even seeing one of these Indians, un- 
less he choose to exhibit himself — for the simple rea- 
son that they are the most superior riders in the world, 
and can elude the enemy as often as they please. All 
they have to do is to station here and there behind the 
little hillocks in the prairie, sentinels, who have their 
horses screened from view near by; and, as the slow 
procession of blue coats and blue buttons, moves on- 
ward with burnished muskets flashing their reflected 
light from the sun far and near, like so many calcium 
illuminators, and with their long train of baggage wag- 
ons and noisy teamsters bringing up the rear, the Co- 
manche guard peeps through a bunch of prairie grass 
held up before his keen visage, and notes the progress 
of Uncle Sam's warriors so long as he pleases, and then 
adroitly mounts his fleet horse, and sails, undiscovered, 
over the prairie, to report the result of his reconnois- 
sance to his chief; who lets his band either remain 
where they are, or prepares them to fight or flee as the 
emergency seems to dictate. 

The infantry are suitable enough to guard the cor- 
don of posts now being established along our south- 
western frontier; but for an effective campaign against 
these Arabs of the southwest, we must send mostly 
cavalry, with a small proportion of artillery and infan- 
try; also, a few companies of Texas Rangers or other 



78 JOURNAL OF 

western troops well trained in riding and the use of 
firearms. 

In such an expedition it is better not to be encum- 
bered with raw recruits, who should be left in garrison 
with the assurance, that when the dead march is played 
over their coffins, they will be in possession of their 
scalps; which happy condition might not obtain, were 
they to come in contact with those tonsorial manipu- 
lators of the occipital protuberance, whose affection for 
their pale face brothers is so deep, that they are desir- 
ous of its perpetual remembrance by such affecting 
souvenirs as locks of hair. 

The natural home of the Comanche is on horseback. 
He is trained to ride from early infancy. On foot his 
gait is clumsy in the extreme. He walks very much 
like an old sailor who has not been ashore sufficiently 
long to divest him of his sea-legs. That is, he steps 
as though the earth were moving to and fro under him, 
and might trip him up, if not on his guard. So the 
sailor, when first on shore, perambulates in a kind of 
jogging, spread-leg style to keep his centre of gravity, 
the same as though he were on the deck of his vessel 
in a storm, with her bow and stern alternately rising 
up and bobbing down, in riding over the billows — with 
an occasional lurch sideways as she trembles in»the 
trouofh of the sea. 

The most remarkable of all their equestrian feats 
is the ability of dropping the body on either side of 
the horse under full speed, and thus screening every 
part of the person from the enemy on the opposite 
side, excepting the heel of one foot, which is left 
hanging over the horse's back. While in this posture 



JJ^A/y LIFE. 79 

the rider has the power of throwing his arrow, or 
using his lance, over or under the animal's neck. He 
is assisted in retaining his position by allowing one 
of his arms to fall through a hair loop, or sling, at- 
tached to the horse's mane. 

These Indians number about sixteen thousand souls. 
Fresh meat, with occasionally a few berries, or wild 
plants, is their only food. The buffaloes afford them 
food, raiment and skins, with which to construct their 
lodges. Antelopes, deer, and other small animals 
are also eaten by them, and in times of great scarcity 
of wild game, they use the flesh of their horses, mules 
and dogs. The skins of the smaller animals, when 
dressed, make them good moccasins, leggins, and 
breech-clouts. The warriors use only the latter arti- 
cles of clothing when on the war path — but, at other 
times, cover the upper portion of their bodies with 
dressed buffalo skins or robes. 

With rare exceptions they have not yet learned the 
use of firearms, but hunt and fight with the bow and 
arrow, and lance, which they wield with wondrous ex- 
pertness. They are trained to the use of these 
weapons from childhood. They hunt and fight on 
horseback. Dashing into a herd of buffalo they ride 
along side of their victims until an opportunity occurs 
for a fair shot, when the swift arrows are sent whizzing 
into the vitals of the poor animals, who soon tumble 
to the ground with their life-blood spurting in red 
currents from the mortal wounds. 

As none of the men are considered of any account 
until after they have stolen a few mules or horses, 
and taken several scalps, it is very dangerous for a 



8o JOURNAL OF 

white man to meet two or three, or a small party, of 
young fellows on the prairie, even at times when the 
main body of these people profess to be friendly. 
The Comanches, and the prairie Indians generally, 
have a disagreeable custom of approaching strangers 
with their horses in a run, both when they are friendly 
and when hostile. 

They should never be allowed to come too near 
until they have shown by pantomimic signs that they 
are friendly, and not even then if the party approached 
has any doubts of their friendship, or if he is alone; in 
which event it is better to make signs to them to keep 
away. If they pay no attention to his signals, and he 
be mounted, he should retreat for the nearest thicket 
or woods. If too closely pursued he might wheel and 
point his gun at the foremost, but not fire unless his 
gun has a revolving chamber with more than one load. 
For his pursuers are far more apt to continue the chase 
after the discharge of the weapon than before, as there 
can be no chance to reload. Still a general rule will 
not apply to all cases. A person must act in accord- 
ance with the particular circumstances attending each 
case. If there be only two or three Indians, and they 
come upon you unawares, and cut off your retreat, it 
is better to act as I did in a similar emergency, as re- 
lated a few pages back. 




I 111 'I I, 




AJiMi LIPE. 8 I 



CHAPTER VIII. 

BUILDING THE FORT HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

Erection of Quarters — Whisky Dealers — Hospital Steward — Reflections upon 
the Evils of Intemperance — The Fifth Infantry to be relieved by the 
Seventh — Separation of Families — Vow of Celibacy while in the Army — 
Violent Storms — Rattlesnakes seek shelter in Mess Tent, and beneath my 
Bed — The Wild' Indians threaten to combine and drive us out of the 
Country — Death of two Officers of the Fifth Infantry — Fish, Birds and 
Animals — My Hunting Companion, Lieutenant Pearce; He frightens me 
terribly by screaming at a Rattlesnake; Our Turkey Hunt; Delaware and 
Shawnee Indians as Guides — The Kickapoos — First Lady in Garrison — 
Respect for Females by Civilized and Uncivilized People, 

Fort Akbuckle, Indian Territory, May 12th, 1851. 

WE are living, and are expecting to live for some 
months, m tents. The carpenters and extra- 
duty men are engaged in erecting the men's barracks; 
which will be built of hewn logs, with the chinks 
stopped with small pieces of wood and clay loam. 
The floors will be of puncheons, and the roofs of clap- 
boards. The chimneys will be constructed of stone 
and clay. The buildings will be arranged into an ob- 
long rectangular parallelogram, with a line of barracks 
on each side for the men — the commissary and quar- 
termaster buildings at one end, and the officers' 
quarters at the other. The hospital, which will be 
erected so soon as the private soldiers are under 
cover, will be a long one-story log building, divided 
into four compartments — one of which will be used 
as a dispensary, with the steward's room adjoining — 
the next two as wards for the sick — and the fourth as 



82 JOURNAL OF 

a kitchen. This buildina will be erected a short dis- 
tance outside of the garrison. 

The sutler's store is about a hundred yards north of 
the commissary buildings. Just under the brow of the 
hill is a limpid spring of icy water, gushing forth 
in a stream powerful enough for a first-class water 
power. It would be a great blessing if the men were 
content with this wholesome beverage of nature; but 
such is not the case. Although they, in common with 
their officers, are here to uphold the laws of their 
country in preventing the introduction of spirituous 
liquors into the Indian country, some of them not 
only connive at its being brought here, but solicit its 
illicit sale — at least to themselves. However faith- 
ful soldiers may be in all otlier respects, there is no 
dependence to be placed in many of them in regard to 
the indulgence in strong drink. 

There are always a few reckless itinerant whisky 
dealers who know when pay-day comes, and by se- 
creting themselves in the vicinity of the post, manage 
to rob the men of their money, their senses and health, 
in defiance of the utmost vigilance of the officers. 
Uncle Sam's soldiers are not famous for strictly tem- 
perate principles. Fortunately the price of intoxicating 
spirits is, in this isolated place, so high that even the 
most inveterate tiplers cannot afford the indulgence of 
a big spree very frequently. 

Most of the Comanches, and several other tribes of 
' wild Indians, have not yet acquired the habit of strong 
drink. 'Tis sad to think that it will be one of the first 
lessons taught them by the march of civilization. For 
they learn the white man's bad habits much more 
readily and quickly than his good ones. 



ARMY LIFE. 83 

To-day I had to reduce my Hospital Steward to the 
ranks. This is very discouraging to me; as, inde- 
pendently of other inconvenience arising from this ne- 
cessity, I shall have to undertake the tedious duty of 
educating another person into the profession of apoth- 
ecary. The history of this man is a sad warning to 
the devotees of Bacchus. He is reported to be of 
good parentage, and very respectably connected. At 
one time he was an officer in the British navy; from 
which he was dismissed on account of his habits of 
intemperance. How and when he came to the United 
States I do not know. He has served for several 
years as a private soldier in our army. His only 
brother is one of the most eminent physicians in 
Texas. 

On joining this command I was truly gratified to 
find so intelligent and capable a man as steward. It 
appears that he was then under an oath not to drink 
for six months. In a very short time, however, he 
commenced using the hospital liquors to excess. Upon 
being discovered and reprimanded, he promised faith- 
fully never to drink any more. It was not long ere 
he got on another spree, and^ in the absence of other 
stimulants, drank hospital alcohol. Being reduced to 
the position of a private soldier for this ofiense, and 
seeming so exceedingly penitent, I again had him ap- 
pointed. In one week from this time he secretly 
drank a gallon of alcohol — the other hospital liquors 
being out of his reach. This last misdemeanor is the 
cause of his final disgrace. 

Thus thousands upon thousands of worthy and tal- 
ented men sacrifice themselves, and destroy the peace 



84 JOURNAL OF 

and happiness of their famiHes and friends by yielding 
to the growing evil of intemperance. But the votaries 
of strong drink are not confined to the sterner sex 
alone, as may be seen at almost every fashionable 
gathering, and at many a ruined home. Alas! alas! 
for the weakness of humanity. I sometimes grow 
impatient at the utter foolishness, insaneness, and 
wickedness, of men and women in destroying so 
much usefulness and happiness by cultivating a taste 
for alcoholic drinks. 

One would think that at least professing Christians, 
and especially the clergy of all denominations, would 
eschew this evil, and lend all their influence against 
it; but, unfortunately, some few of these persons lead 
the way in setting for the rising generation an example 
which will do more toward luring them into the pit- 
fall of drunkenness and perdition, and in bringing 
discredit on the holy name of religion itself, than all 
other causes combined. 

Although there may be no intrinsic wrong in a 
Christian, or anybody else, taking a drink of intoxi- 
cating liquor when viewed in the simple act itself, yet 
there is a sin in so doing when he knows that a 
craving appetite for the same is almost sure to be 
generated if the habit of moderate drinking is kept 
up for any length of time. Besides we are enjoined 
by the Bible to refrain from the appearance of evil — 
that our brother may not be led into temptation. 

If there is anything under the sun upon which I 
have positive convictions, it is on the dreadful evils of 
intemperance. I hope the time will come when the 
wine-cup and flowing bowl will only be known in the 



ARMY LIFE. 85 

history of the past. Some professing Christians think 
they are justified in the use of alcoholic stimu- 
lants because St. Paul wrote to Timothy to take a 
little wine for his stomach's sake. But they should 
bear in mind that the latter was in ill-health, and that 
the former advised the wine as a medicine. There 
are some cases of sickness where its use is justifia- 
ble — but many of the physicians of the present day 
will have a fearful accountability in the next world 
when brought face to face with many of their forever- 
doomed patients, who will cry out that their sad fate 
was owing to the doctor's prescription of brandy or 
wine three or four times daily, for months and years 
at a time. 

Orders have arrived for the Fifth Infantry to pro- 
ceed further south so soon as relieved by the Seventh 
Infantry. The company here is one of the ten that 
will go. It is not known whether I am to accompany 
the troops or not. Some of the officers of the former 
regiment, being stationed at moderately pleasant 
frontier posts, have with them their families, from 
whom they must now separate. Such is army life. 

Unless that little rogue, Cupid, should let his shafts 
pierce my heart when least expected, I shall endeavor 
to trudge my lonely way as heretofore, with no an- 
gelic hand to press my feverish brow when ill, or sooth 
my anguished soul when oppressed with harassing 
care; because this constant parting between husband, 
wife, and children, is far worse than having none from 
whom to separate. 

For the next few years I shall be ever willing and 
ready to go wherever duty calls — but I hope the day 



86 JOURNAL OF 

is not distant when I shall be able to say good bye to 
the mess-pots of Uncle Sam, 

yune "jih. — We had a violent storm night before 
and last night. The rain descended in torrents. It 
was alarming only so far as there was danger of up- 
rooted trees falling on our canvas domiciles. Sleep- 
ing in a tent, though disagreeable in a hurricane, is de- 
lightful in pleasant weather — unless lizards, tarantulas, 
mosquitoes, centipedes and snakes become too soci- 
able. The jingle of a rattlesnake's tail is not the 
most musical announcement of breakfast, yet one of 
these monsters, six feet in length, with fifteen rattles, 
was killed in our mess-tent this morninof — and one of 
his hideous relatives took shelter from the howling 
blasts beneath the boxes that served me as a bed- 
stead. Doubtless these reptiles imagine that they 
have as good a right to this country as anybody else. 
Still I must protest against the freedom of their 
manners. 

The Fifth Regiment of Infantry have received 
orders to concentrate at the Brazos, preparatory to 
the assignment of the companies to their respective 
stations. Portions of Seventh have already arrived 
in this department. The two companies which are to 
be stationed at this place are within a few day's 
march of here. The probability is that I shall remain 
at this post. 

The appearance of so many troops in the Indian 
country has caused great excitement among the wild 
tribes. It is reported among them that the United 
States troops have declared war against all of the 



ARMY LIFE. 87 

prairie Indians. The latter threaten to combine, and 
drive the blue-coats out of the country. 

December i^tk, 1851. — Several months have 
rolled around since I have attempted to* make any 
record of events. During that time very few things 
of any interest have occurred. 

The two expected companies (G and H) did not 
arrive until the eleventh of June. The officers were 
Major George Andrews, in command; Brevet-Major 
John C. Henshaw; Lieutenants Thomas Henry, Nich- 
olas B. Pearce and William L. Cabell. 

Captain Marcy's company, of the Fifth, remained 
with us a few days, and then left via Fort Washita for 
the Brazos. Subsequently the whole Fifth Regiment 
of Infantry concentrated at the latter place. Instead 
of being distributed at several posts the intention is 
now, by order of General Smith, to garrison but two 
new ones — one at the Brazos river, where the Gen- 
eral's headquarters will be; and the other on the Clear 
Fork, of the same river. There have been two deaths 
among the officers of that regiment since last June — 
Lieutenant Patrick A. Farelly and the Colonel of the 
regiment, Brevet Brig.-Gen. Wm. G. Belknap. The 
latter died but a few weeks since, while on his way 
from the Brazos to Fort Washita. Being an invalid, 
he was conveyed in an ambulance, accompanied by a 
few friends, who just before reaching the latter post had 
occasion to absent themselves from the vehicle a short 
time. One of them returning in a little while found 
the General dead. 

The corporal in charge stated that whilst the team 



88 JOURNAL OF 

was moving slowly onward he heard a groan, when 
he immediately ran to the General — and lo! the vital 
spark had fled. His spirit had taken its flight to 
" that undiscovered country, from whose bourne no 
traveler returns." He has left a most interesting 
family to mourn his loss. May the God of mercy 
comfort and console them in their great and almost 
overwhelming affliction. 

Major Andrews remained with us but a few weeks, 
when, in consequence of the death of Brevet Brig.- 
General Mathew Arbuckle, who commanded the 
Seventh Military Department, he was ordered to re- 
turn to Fort Gibson. The General was an upright, 
intelligent officer; but his military career has not been 
very brilliant. Still he has seen a great deal of ardu- 
ous frontier service. Feeble health prevented his 
taking a very active part in the Mexican War, which 
afforded an opportunity for distinction to so many of 
our gallant officers. Col. Henry Wilson succeeded 
him in command of the department. 

During the past summer, when not engaged in gar- 
rison duties, and scouting expeditions among the In- 
dians, we amused ourselves in fishing and hunting. 
The turbid rivers are full of buffalo -fish, suckers, eels, 
turtles and cat-fish. The purer streams from the hills 
abound in fresh water bass, sunfish, perch, and silver- 
sides. 

The birds and animals most common to this country, 
that are good for food, are teal, summer and mallard 
duck; plover, lark, robin, prairie grouse, quail, snipe, 
wild geese, brant, swan, wild pigeon, wild turkey, grey 
and white crane, white and black tail deer, antelope, 



ARMY LIFE. 89 

beaver, black bear, hare, raccoon, opossum, the grey, 
black and fox squirrel, and buffalo within fifteen miles; 
of the birds and animals not usually eatable, there are 
the bird of paradise, reg-winged and rusty-winged 
blackbird, blue-bird, buzzard, crow, dove, dipper or di- 
dapper, eagle, owl, prairie and fish hawk, English 
mocking-bird, humming-bird, king-fisher, pewee, red- 
bird, raven, sparrow, swallow, sap-sucker, woodpecker, 
w^hip- poor -will, bull-bat, wren, yellow-bird, mouse, 
gopher, prairie-dog, panther, skunk, grey and black 
fox, wild-cat, coyote, black and grey wolves, rat, and 
mustanof. 

My almost constant companion, in hunting, is a 
handsome, generous-hearted and gallant young lieu- 
tenant, who was known at West Point by the sobriquet 
of Nota-Bene Pearce, because his first initials are N. 
B,, for Nicholas Bart. Being reared in Kentucky, he 
is, of course, at home in the saddle, with a gun on his 
back. Although a splendid marksman, and successful 
hunter, his great excitability has more than once 
alarmed me, and even imperiled my life. 

On one occasion, as we were walking through a 
post - oak grove, a rabbit sprang up, and wheeled 
around so as to describe a part of a circle. The trees 
prevented Pearce from drawing a bead on his game 
until his line of sight almost covered me as well as 
the rabbit. The concussion of his gun stunned me ; 
and for a moment I thought my left ear was torn off, 
but it turned out to be only a little burnt from the 
powder. At another time we were hunting in a dense 
thicket in the Wild Horse Creek bottom, when I was 
taken with hemorrhage from the nose. While bathing 



90 JOURNAL OF 

my face in the cool water of a brook, our attention 
was attracted by the barking of our dog a few hundred 
yards off. Pearce immediately dashed off to ascertain 
what game was held at bay by old Zeb. In a short 
time I heard a most fearful scream, followed instantly 
by the report of a gun. Then all was as silent as the 
grave. Fearing that he had been ambushed by lurk- 
ing savages, I cautiously approached in the direction 
of the sound, and found the Lieutenant standing at the 
foot of a bluff bank reloading his gun. He motioned 
to me, in a very excited manner, to look at something 
near where I had chanced to stop; when I beheld an 
enormous rattle -snake lying at the foot of a tree, 
writhing in the last agony of death. It appears that 
on nearing the place where the dog was barking, 
Pearce suddenly came upon this huge serpent, which 
springing its warning rattle, and darting at his legs, 
caused him to leap over a fifteen feet bluff bank, yell- 
ing like an Indian. On landing out of harm's way he 
wheeled and fired. 

On rebuking him for alarming me, he stated that 
having been bitten by a snake in his youth, he could 
not help screaming at the bare sight of this horrid 
reptile. 

Althouofh orenerous to a fault, he cannot bear the 
idea of any one being more successful in a hunt than 
himself. The natural consequence is that I occasion- 
ally make him a little envious by my nigger-luck, as 
he is pleased to term it. For instance, during the 
past summer, we started out on horseback to a hunt- 
ing ground about seven miles down the Washita, 



ARMY LIFE. 



91 



river. Not seeing anything to shoot, we were on the 
eve of returning, when our dogs flushed a gang of 
wild turkeys; some of which ht in a large cottonwood 
tree, about six hundred yards distant. Pearce impetu- 
ously tore through the thicket in pursuit of the game; 
not having on a full buckskin suit like himself, I pre- 
ferred to leave the prize to him. 

During his absence I discovered an enormous gang of 
turkeys at the head of a lake near by, quenching their 
thirst. Whilst crawling up for a shot I came suddenly 
upon another flock, so near me that it seemed impossi- 
ble at first view to kill more than one, as the load of 
shot could not scatter much at so short a distance. I 
aimed so as to hit the head of one, the wing of a 
second, and body of a third; all three of which I 
killed. As the remainder rose I fired the other barrel, 
bringing down two more — five in one discharge of a 
double-barreled shotgun. 

In a few minutes thereafter Pearce made his appear- 
ance with only one trophy of his late exertion, and 
said " dog gone you, Galen, where did you get those 
turkeys; I didn't hear you fire but twice?" Having 
explained the matter to him he was anxious to extend 
the hunt, but I protesting, we turned our horses' heads 
toward garrison. On our way thither a noble gobbler 
ran across the trail just ahead of us — when the Lieu- 
tenant hurriedly dismounted, and started in pursuit. 
His sudden action stampeded his pony, which ran off 
with the turkey already killed. However my friend 
succeeded in shooting the gobbler, and finding the 
runaway animal; but never fully forgave me for 
bringing home more game than he did. 



92 JOURNAL OF 

Amonof the numerous small tribes of Indians who 
occasionally visit our post none present a more ro- 
mantic history, or are more intelligent, than the Dela- 
wares and Shawnees. They are closely related to 
each other, having intermarried and lived together for 
nearly two hundred years. A small band of them, 
under the control of the famous guide. Black Beaver, 
at present occupy our deserted camp near the Canadian 
river — another party of them live near the Missouri 
river, not far from Fort Leavenworth. 

They make the most trustworthy and useful guides 
of any Indians in the country — from the fact of their 
exact knowledge of all parts of the West from the 
Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean — having traded, 
hunted and trapped among nearly every tribe of wild 
Indians in the United States. They do not live or 
hunt together, as a band^ but divide up into small 
parties of from five to ten, and roam all over the con- 
tinent. They go well armed with rifles, which they 
know how to use to perfection. The old Mississippi 
rifle, carrying a half-ounce ball, is a general favorite 
among them. 

The Delawares once lived in the territory now em- 
braced in New Jersey, Delaware, and the eastern part 
of Pennsylvania; and were at one time a numerous 
and warlike tribe. They have been forced, by the 
westward march of civilization, to change their abode 
oftener than any other tribe of Indians in North 
America. The mere fact of their being thus jostled 
and moved about so frequently, has helped to incul- 
cate in them an almost incurable disposition to roam. 

Our command ^being composed of infantry we can- 



AJiMY LIFE. 



93 



not, of course, make any extensive scouts into the 
wild Indian country, but frequently have to go a short 
distance to arbitrate between contending tribes who 
encamp for awhile in our vicinity. On such occasions 
the experience of our Delaware friends, as guides and 
interpreters, is invaluable. Through their assistance 
we were enabled lately to prevent a big fight between 
the Kickapoos on one side and the Witchitas and 
Osaofes on the other. The trouble arose from the 
latter Indians stealing from the former a number of 
horses. The Kickapoos returned the compliment by 
stealing a still greater number from the Osages and 
Witchitas. 

The Kickapoos have recently returned from a pre- 
datory expedition, in conjunction with the notorious 
Seminole chief, Wild Cat, along the Mexican settle- 
ments of the Colorado. They expect to remain in 
the vicinity of the fort till next spring, when their 
usual summer trip to the southwest will be undertaken. 
The Kickapoo Indians are not quite so intelligent as 
the Delawares. They can use both bow and rifle 
equally well, and are as brave as Spartans. There 
remain ot this once formidable tribe only a few hun- 
dred warriors. These, however, are more than a 
match for many times their number of wild Indians. 

Lieutenant Mathew R. Stevenson and wife have 

lately arrived. The latter is accomplished and quite 

pretty. Of course she is a great addition to our 

society. 

"O fairest of creation, last and best 
Of all God's works, creature in whom excelled, 
Whatever can to sight or thought be formed. 
Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet." 



94 JOURNAL Ot 

Such is woman. What would man do without her? 
How wonderful her influence in all conditions of life ! 
Her magic spell has created and crushed empires. There 
is no surer proof of civilization than the degree of re- 
spect in which females are held. In proof of this asser- 
tion it is only necessary to allude to well known facts. 
The savage treats his wife as a servant — compelling 
her to do all the drudgery. If he lives by hunting, it 
is her province to properly prepare and cook the 
game, and to dress the hides. If he be civilized 
enough to raise a patch of melons, pumpkins, and 
corn, his squaw has to perform all the labor of culti- 
vation. The husband shuns all work as beneath the 
dignity of the hunter and warrior. Even in court- 
ship the woman's ability to perform manual labor is 
sometimes considered of as much importance as her 
beauty and social qualifications. 

A few days ago I made some inquiries of an Indian 
by the name of Buck, concerning his mode of life, etc. 
Among other questions he was asked why he married 
such an old squaw? His reply was: — "Young woman 
no good — old squaw dress skins heap." Among the 
Comanches the women have no voice in the selection 
of a husband. Her father sells her for a certain 
amount of goods and chattels — such as blankets, 
horses, etc. ; no marriage ceremony whatever being 
performed. Among the half-civilized Indians the 
female's choice is often consulted. When a Choctaw 
desires to marry, he presents his inamorata with a 
deer's leQf, as emblematical of his callinof. If his at- 
tentions are acceptable she gives him in return an ear 
of corn — signifying her willingness to be his compan- 
ion, and to cultivate the field for him. 



ARMY LIFE. 95 



CHAPTER IX. 

GARRISON LIFE IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 

An Ofificer Court-martialed — Another Threat by the Comanches — Rumored 
Massacre of Captain Marcy and party — Kickapoo War Dance — Howling 
of Wolves creates a Stampede — Marcy Reads his own Obituary — Visit 
of the Kickapoos ; much sickness among them ; they Importune my As- 
sistance — Another Christmas — Deprivations of Army Officers — A Warning 
to Young Ladies — Little Dug's fall into a Duck Pond — The tribes of Red 
skins who visit the post — Choctaw Law — Murder of Dr. Ward — Deser- 
tions — Trouble with the Kickapoos, Witchitaws and Wacos — Kickapoo 
Ball-play — Departure of Lieutenant Garland and Wife — Rare sport at 
Pigeon Shooting by myself in the Mountains — The Indians must change 
their Habits or be Annihilated — The Soldier Jack of all Trades — More 
Sad News from Home, 

Fort Arbuckle, Indian Territory, June 20th, 1852. 

LIEUTENANTS Pearce and Cabell, having been 
assigned to other companies, left here about a 
month ago. We feel very disconsolate at the loss of 
two such agreeable companions. Our only consola- 
tion is the arrival of Lieutenant Robert R. Garland, 
and his charmino- wife. 

The harmony of our little circle has recently been 
marred b)^ the arrest, and trial, before a court-martial, 
of Lieutenant M. R. Stevenson, upon charges preferred 
against him by his commanding officer, Brevet-Major 
J. C. Henshaw. The court convened at Fort Gibson, 
and honorably acquitted the Lieutenant. On receiv- 
ing and approving the proceedings, the Department 
Commander admonished the said Henshaw to desist 
in future from his usual tyrannical conduct toward his 
subordinates. Although Major Henshaw is intelligent, 



96 JOURNAL OF 

polite and agreeable, he seems, for some reason or 
other, to be under a regimental ban — or as some 
would express it, placed in Coventry by the other offi- 
cers of his regiment. Whether justly so or not I am 
as yet unable to determine. The general prejudice 
against him destroys his usefulness, and is sure to keep 
him in more or less contention all the while. 

The garrison has been under some excitement dur- 
ing the last few days, in consequence of a rumor, that 
the Comanches are on their way hither to drive us out 
of the country. It is related by the Witchitaws, who 
have fled to this fort for protection, that the former 
tribe have thrown away all the presents and medals 
given them from time to time by the government, and 
have declared war against the whites, and all small 
bands of Indians friendly to the latter. The alleged 
cause of their august displeasure is the killing of six of 
their tribe, a few days since, while on a marauding trip 
on the frontier of Texas. The Comanches have lately 
killed several Indians friendly to the whites; but I 
hardly think they will attempt an attack on this post. 

July 10th. — Madam rumor now insists that the 
Comanches lately attacked, and completely destroyed, 
the command of Captain R. B. Marcy. It will be re- 
membered that this officer has been exploring Red 
river from Cache creek to its source, his command 
consisting of one hundred and twenty men, with the 
following officers : — Captain George B. McClellan, 
Corps of Engineers ; Lieutenant UpdegrafT, Fifth In- 
fantry; Dr. Shumard, of Fort Smith, and Captain 
J. H. Strain, the Sutler of Fort Washita. The Witch 



AJ?MV LIFE. 97 

taws and Wacos bring the news, and pretend to give 
all the particulars. Although the story is plausible it 
is doubtless a hoax. 

yuly igth. — To-day we were entertained by the 
Kickapoos with a war dance. They seldom have 
these dances unless about to be engaged in war; or 
after a battle. No description can portray an accu- 
rate idea of the scene, which should be seen to be 
appreciated. Imagine some fifty copper-colored 
athletic, fierce-visaged men, bedaubed most hideously 
with red, black and yellow paint — the red and black 
so arranged on the face as to give the utmost savage 
appearance — their long hair bedecked with vari- 
colored feathers — no clothing except breech-cloths, 
leggins and moccasins, the majority having only the 
first articles, neck and arms covered with bear's 
claws, scalps, etc.: some having buffalo horns and red 
flannel attached to their heads, all excitedly engaged 
in an irregular succession of bobbing up and down, 
clapping of hands, groaning, whooping, yelling, run- 
ning, jumping, tumbling, bodily contortions, various 
pantomimic motions, accompanied by the beating of 
rude drums, and blowing of squaking wind instru- 
ments, and you will have a faint idea of the perform- 
ance. 'Tis said that all their motions have a meaning, 
which, when understood by spectators, render the 
dance decidedly interesting. At the conclusion of this 
dramatical exhibition the Commissary of Subsistence 
gave to the Indians a beef, upon which they feasted to 
their hearts' content; vowing all the while a faithful 
allegiance to the government in the event of hostili- 
ties with tne Comanches. 



98 JOURh'AL OF 

Last night, about one a. m., I was aroused from my 
slumber by a most fearful howling beneath my quarters. 
Springing out of bed, and grasping my rifle, I soon 
learned that there was no cause for alarm, as the noise 
proceeded from a pack of rascally wolves, who had taken 
shelter beneath my floor. As they had frightened me, 
I returned the compliment by firing off my gun, and 
thus creating a very laughable stampede among my 
uninvited guests. The uproar ended in a general 
garrison fright. 

July 2gth. — Few persons live to read their own 
obituaries. Captain Marcy and his companions have 
had this rare satisfaction. For after the majority of 
their friends, and the public generally, had come to 
the conclusion that their scalps were ornamenting the 
war regalia of some of the Comanche chiefs, they had 
the boldness to return to life ao-ain. On arriving in 
garrison to-day, and learning the false report of their 
slaughter, they were greatly amused. However, in 
order to relieve the anxiety of relations, friends, and 
the public, a messenger was despatched to Fort Smith 
with the news of Marcy's return — to go thence by 
mail to Memphis, Tennessee; from which point a tel- 
egram can be sent to Washington City. 

July ^oth. — Captain Marcy and McClellan, Dr. 
Shumard, and Mr. Suydam^ left this afternoon for the 
States. Marcy is going to Washington City; Mc- 
Clellan^ via St. Louis, to San Antonia, Texas. Lieu- 
tenant Updegraff started about the same time for the 
Brazos, with the detachment of the Fifth Infantry, 
which had acted as escort to the expedition. 



AJ?MY LIFE. 99 

August jth. A party of fifty dragoons, under the 
command of Lieutenant George H. Stewart, and ac- 
companied by Dr. Taylor and Lieutenant Beall, ar- 
rived here this morningf. One half of the men are 
from Fort Graham, and the other half from Fort 
Worth. Being in search of Captain Marcy's party, 
and havinof struck their return trail near the Witchita 
village, they followed it to this place, where they will 
remain a few days. The detachment consists of a 
fine-looking body of young men. 

August 6th. — Paid a visit to-day to one of the two 
Kickapoo villages in this neighborhood. Their lodges 
are built in the form of ordinary log cabins, opening 
at the gable-end. But instead of logs, boards, etc., 
they consist of a framework of upright poles, bound 
together by cross and top pieces — the sides and roof be- 
ing covered with bark. Their beds are elevated bunks 
made of sticks, over which lies the ever-useful buffalo 
skin, which serves as covering for the body by day, and 
bedding- at night. There are about four hundred souls 
in the two camps. Although they generally build 
their temporary villages on high ground, they do not 
exercise much judgment in avoiding the poisonous 
exhalations from swamps, low river bottoms, and 
marshes, by shunning such places when possible — or, 
when impossible, of locating to the windward — the 
winds in this country coming steadily from certain 
directions in particular seasons. Consequently they 
suffer terribly from malarious diseases, and their pro 
tean complications. Having no specific or effective 
remedies among themselves for these complaints, they 



lOO JOURNAL OF 

often importune my assistance. I cheerfully aid the 
poor wretches when they show a willingness to comply 
with my directions. But it is no easy matter to con- 
trol such a set of superstitious creatures. 

August 14th. — There being no chaplain at this 
post, I was requested by the commanding officer to 
read the funeral service over a deceased soldier. 

" Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate, 
All but the page prescribed, their present state: 
From brutes what men, from men what spirits know: 
Or who could sufTer being here below ?" 

November iiih. — Nothing unusual has occurred 
during the past few months. Much sickness in garri- 
son at present — principally malarious fevers. The 
season has been unusually wet — vegetation rank and 
abundant — conditions invariably followed in this 
climate by miasmatic fevers, dysentery, etc. 

No change in our little social circle — except that the 
two lieutenants and their wives were absent a few 
weeks in September and October, bringing with them 
on their return Miss Florence Burk, who starts back 
this morning for Fort W^ashita, where her parents re- 
side; her father being Chaplain of that post. 

December 2^th, .183^ — Christmas in garrison is cel- 
ebrated by all the demonstrations of joy and good cheer, 
so far as available, customary in other places. We are 
generally invited to the quarters of one of the married 
officers to partake of such refreshments as are suitable 
to the occasion. At this post we are denied all those 
delightfully pleasant church festivities common to all 



ARMY LIFE. lOI 

civilized and christian communities, for the simple 
reason that we have no Chaplain. Let all young ladies 
who are dazzled with the glare of gilt buttons at some 
of the fashionable parties on East, bear these, and 
other deprivations, in mind, before saying "yes" to the 
fascinating sons of Mars, Let our lawmakers, who 
ihink the life of an officer is so easy that he is worthy 
of but little compensation, ponder over these things 
also. 

When speaking of a Christmas dinner at old Camp 
Arbuckle, in 1850, I was disposed to brag a little about 
the numerous dishes of fresh meat that we had on the 
table. A two years residence in this country with 
little else to eat besides game, has changed my enthu- 
siasm a great deal in this respect, and I now almost 
loathe wild ducks, geese, turkeys, grouse, etc. The 
palate demands a greater variety of eatables, especi- 
ally fresh vegetables and fruits. With the exception 
of a few apples, obtained from Arkansas, we never get 
a sight of cultivated fruits, and rarely find any of the 
wild varieties in this vicinity. The few wild plums, 
etc., that grow near here are eaten by the Indians long 
before maturity. Even if our pay would allow the 
luxury, it would be impossible to transport ripe 
peaches, pears, plums, cherries, and similar delicious 
fruits, from the States. Being very fond of such 
things, I miss them greatly. We are not entirely de- 
prived of vegetables, because they can be produced in 
our gardens. But fruit trees require many years of 
growth before being large enough to bear. A friend 
and myself planted a young orchard near our quarters, 
thinking that some person might perhaps reap the 



I02 JOURNAL OF 

benefit in the course of time. Vacating the premises 
shortly thereafter to a married officer, we were dis- 
gusted to find that he could see no use in providing 
for the wants of others who might come after us, and 
that he let our young trees perish for want of attention. 

Most new-comers are very fond of the pecan nut, 
which grows in this country. When my two young 
friends. Lieutenants Andrew W. Evans, and Henry 
Douglass, first joined the post they seemed as much 
delighted at the sight of a full-bearing pecan tree, as 
boys generally are of chestnut trees. Like almost 
everybody else, they soon grew tired of climbing for 
pecans, and took a fancy for hunting. They were 
glad to avail themselves of my older experience in 
the country to escort them to the choice hunting 
grounds — the soldiers and Indians making game ex- 
ceedingly scarce in the immediate vicinity of garrison. 

Among the many amusing incidents that occurred 
in these trips I am tempted to relate one that hap- 
pened quite recently. One of my friends, whom we 
call little Dug, although taught the art of riding 
among other things at the West Point Military 
Academy, has such short legs that it is impossible for 
him to ever gain distinction for his equestrian feats. 
Having a penchant for small animals, on account of 
their activity, and perhaps cheapness, he invested, on 
his arrival in this country, in a small, active, and really 
beautiful little pony. So, mounted on this favorite 
charger, he accompanied Lieutenant Evans and myself 
one day on a hunting trip. On passing along the 
margin of a pond a fine mallard cluck suddenly flew 
up — being in the lead I turned in my saddle and fired, 



ARM\ LIFE. 103 

with the satisfaction of seeing my game fall. Killing 
only one duck, but hearing two splashes, I looked be- 
hind, and beheld little Dug flat in the water, and his 
riderless pony kicking up his saucy heels at some dis- 
tance in the prairie. The scene was quite ludicrous. 
Our day's sport was, however, spoiled, owing to the 
time it took to recapture the renegade animal. On 
another occasion, when Evans, Douglass and I were 
out hunting, the former's gun got caught in the bush, 
and accidently went off, narrowly missing Douglass 
and myself. 

Lieutenant Evans remained at this post but a short 
time, when orders, from headquarters of the army, 
arrived detailinof him on detached service. On the 
1 2th instant we received a batch of recruits, accom- 
panied by two officers ,of the Fifth Infantry, and 
Doctor Thomas A. McParlin, U. S. Army, an eleve 
of the University of Maryland. Only persons isolated 
like ourselves, can fully realize how pleasant it is to 
receive calls from congenial visitors — especially from 
one's own corps. The Doctor and 1 discussed many 
pleasant reminiscences of the old university, and of 
Baltimore, where he has recently spent some time. 
His service has been mostly with dragoons in New 
Mexico. He is now on his way to Fort Mcintosh, 
in Texas. 

February 2d, 1833- — The month of January has 
been decidedly monotonous. The only change in our 
little circle has been the departure of our former 
sutler, James Stevens. He has gone to try his 
fortune at Fort Towson, where he has just been 



I04 JOURNAL Ot 

married to a Miss Gooding. May God's blessing 
attend him wherever his lot may be cast. His suc- 
cessor at this post, Captain J. H. Strain, appears to be 
a gentleman, and thorough going business man. His 
prospects are flattering, as the command is large, and 
the Indian trade increasing. 

The tribes of "redskins" who visit this post are 
Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, Seminoles, Shawnees, 
Delawares, Kickapoos, Caddos, Wacos, Witchitaws, 
Osages, Keechis, Tonkawas, Comanches, etc. I have 
already made some allusions to the Choctaws. The 
Chickasaws are a very similar class of people. They 
own none of this Territory, but only have a right to 
citizenship. It appears that some twenty years ago 
they paid the Choctaws 1500,000 for the privilege of 
living in their country — being subject to the Choctaw 
laws; and having permission to till the soil wherever 
they pleased, but no fee simple title of the same. A 
citizen can locate and change his location as often as 
he pleases — being at no expense for the land, and 
having no taxes to pay. 

A few enterprising farmers could make money in the 
neighborhood of this fort in raising corn, which is now 
worth $1.50 per bushel. The post is supplied at 
present with this necessary article by a Colonel Bore- 
Ian, of Texas. He has to transport it a long distance. 

The laws among the Choctaws, though fewer, are 
very similar to those of the States. The old saying 
that "law is not always justice," is most strikingly 
illustrated amonof these Indians. Men of wealth and 
influence can commit crimes with almost perfect im- 
munity. 



ARMY LIFE. IO5 

"Plate sin in gold, 

And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; 
Arm it with rags, a pigmy straw doth pierce it." 

In illustration I shall simply allude to one of many 

like examples: P , living some fifty miles from 

here, murdered a Doctor Ward, some four years 
ago. The act is stated to have been a most horrible 
and revolting one. He, and several of his friends, 
waylaid the Doctor, and after beating him almost to 
death, lodged complaint against him to the Indian 
Agent, who, under false representations from his ac- 
cusers, sent the Doctor out of the country, into Texas. 

A short time subsequently P , and F , suc- 
ceeded in grettingr- the Doctor on the Choctaw side of 
Red. River unarmed, when they clubbed him until he 
was apparently dead. Finding on the following 

morning that life was not quite extinct, P made 

his colored man knock him in the head. This same 
negro was afterward whipped to death for divulging 
the matter. A reward was offered by the proper 
United States judiciary ofificer in Texas for the arrest 
of the murderers — but they are still going at large. 
One of them was here a few days ago. 

March 22th. — Quite an excitement here lately in 
the way of desertions. Since the paymaster paid the 
troops, on the first of the month, sixteen recruits have 
deserted. Only two have been captured so far. They 
escape into Texas. A detachment has been sent to- 
day in pursuit. The penalty for desertion is very 
severe. As much as I dislike to see a man whipped, 
it would be a satisfaction to see some of these lazy 



I06 JOURNAL OF 

fellows severely punished. They are nearly all for- 
eigners, and have just received from five to ten 
months pay, without rendering any service whatever 
to the orovernment. 

We have been amusing ourselves occasionally this 
spring by fishing. On the fourth and fifth of March, 
Lieutenant Garland and myself caught a fire lot of 
buffalo- fish with o-rub- worms. The larorest weio-hed 
ten pounds. This fish is large and broad, and has a 
sucker mouth — the meat being coarse. 

April sth, 1833' — ^^ \\2i\& lately had trouble with 
one of the two bands of Kickapoos encamped in this 
vicinity. Having illegally introduced liquor into the 
country, they got on a big spree, and became very 
noisy and troublesome. The commanding officer 
sent a detachment of infantry to arrest such of the 
Indians as were known to have been guilty of bring- 
ing ardent spirits into the nation. The Kickapoos 
surrendered two Cayan-kashaws, but declined giving up 
any of their own tribe; until preparations were made 
to march against them in full force; when they finally 
submitted to the demands of the government. For 
awhile, however, things presented quite a warlike ap- 
pearance. Had a battle ensued both bands of the 
Kickapoos would have united, and the troops been 
undoubtedly defeated. For better marksmen or 
braver men than these Indians are not to be found 
anywhere. In our dealings with the red men we 
always presume on what may be termed the prestige 
of the United States — as all partially civilized Indians 



AJ?MV LIFE. 



107 



know that they are Hkely to be punished severely if 
any of Uncle Sam's soldiers are killed by them. 

We have just heard of some difficulty between 
government troops and the Witchitaws and Wacos, 
at Stern's Agency — not very far from here. It appears 
that the Witchitaws had stolen some horses from 
Fort Croghan. Major Henry H. Sibley, of the Second 
Dragoons, being on his way to the Witchitaw village 
to investigate the matter, met with a small band of 
these Indians at the agency, and took them as host- 
ages, in order to hasten the surrender of the stolen 
animals. They were placed under the charge of the 
guard. At midnight one of the Indians rushed out 
and shot the sentinel dead with a pistol that he had 
secreted. Wildhouse, the chief, also ran out and 
stabbed the already lifeless body of the soldier, and 
was shot down by the guard. The other prisoners 
made their escape. Two squaws, however, returned 
on the following day. It is related that the chief, be- 
lieving himself in danger of punishment, had previ- 
ously determined to sacrifice his own life, and that of 
his wife and son, for the benefit of the young men of 
the party. Hence, at the report of the pistol, 
he killed his wife and son, and then thrust his 
knife into the corpse of the sentinel, when he met 
his fate. Major Sibley had no intention of punishing 
these Indians; and intended to have released them in 
a few days. 

April 11th, i8^j. — The Kickapoos are having a 
great "ball-play" at their camp beyond the Washita 
river. Some friends and myself have been to witness 



I08 JOURNAL OF 

their performances. They arrange themselves into 
two parties. The "stakes," consisting of old clothing, 
buffalo robes, deer skins, bows and arrows, etc., en- 
closed in a sack, are put on the end of a long pole in 
the centre of the play-ground, which is about four 
hundred yards long. At each end are placed two 
poles, twelve feet apart, with cross-pieces at the top. 
The play commencing, the contestants assemble at the 
centre-pole; when one of the players throws up the 
ball, made of rags covered with buckskin, as a signal 
of the opening of the game. Then all is confusion 
doubly confounded, as each and all rush after the ball, 
in the greatest excitement, kicking it and knock- 
ing it with all their might, the object being to 
drive it between their own party poles. This 
effected, it constitutes one point in the game — the 
whole number being four. With the exception of the 
breech-cloth, these players are in pur is naturalibus — 
and painted in the most fantastic manner. 

They generally use a spoon-fashioned stick for the 
purpose of catching and throwing the ball, but are per- 
mitted to use their hands and feet in hurling it onward. 
It is astonishing how quickly they can secure the ball 
in this stick, and with what force they can cast it. 

Bruised heads and broken limbs are common results 
in this exciting pastime. 

May 4th, 1853- — Have just bidden farewell to Lieu- 
tenant Garland and wife, who have left for the East. 
In the language of the poet: — 



ARMY LIFE. 1 09 

"What words can paint the fears 
^ When from those friends we sever, 

Perhaps to part for months — for years — 
Perhaps to part forever." 

One peculiarity of army life is, that there are gen- 
erally so few officers' families in garrison together, 
and this perhaps in a country where we are entirely 
cut off from direct communication with the rest of the 
world, that their intercourse with each other is that of 
brothers and sisters. In parting then we are moved 
by the same fraternal feelings — rendered doubly acute 
by the absence, in this wilderness, of new friends to 
take their places. 

Although moderately contented thus far, no amount 
of money could induce me to remain in such a state of 
isolation from society for a lifetime. 

May 13th, i8f>3- — A party of us had agreed to go 
to the mountains to-day to hunt pigeons. It having 
rained early in the morning, my friends concluded not 
to go. But, having been disappointed in the same 
manner a few mornings ago, I resolved on trying my 
luck alone. 

After ascending the mountain^ and hitching my 
horse so near me that the Indians could not steal him 
unobserved, I took my stand on one of the most 
favorably commanding peaks, and prepared for the 
sport. The prospects were at first gloomy, but 
brightened with the sky. It was not long ere the 
pigeons could be seen in every direction skimming 
along the surface of the hills and dales about tree-top 
high. Every now and then a flock came whirling by 



no JOURNAL OF 

me with such rapidity that I had constantly to be on 
the alert, or lose my fire. I adopted the plan of 
shooting them on the wing, for the reason that very 
few lit in my vicinity; and because even when they 
did light, it was next to impossible to find them on 
account of the density of the undergrowth and foliage. 
Having killed as many as my horse could conveniently 
carry, I returned home. This being the first appear- 
ance of wild pigeons in the neighborhood, I made a 
general distribution of the game in garrison. 

May 2gtJi. — The sky for the last few days has been 
overcast with clouds. At noon to day the sun showed 
forth with renewed splendor and brilliancy — a refresh- 
ing breeze sprung up at the same time, which proved 
quite invigorating. These balmy zephyrs constitute 
the great redeeming quality of this climate. To-night 
the rattling of the windows and doors, the roaxnng 
gusts of wind, and the lightning's vivid glare, portend 
a fearful storm. We feel thankful to be in good, com- 
fortable log cabins, instead of tents, on occasions like 
these. 

Our thoughts and sympathies naturally turn to the 
poor, roving savages, who have no beds but Nature's, 
no shelter save the canopy of Heaven, no raiment 
save the skin of the buffalo, perhaps no food, and no 
hopes of obtaining sufficient for the morrow. Can 
these poor creatures be truly happy? They seem to 
be moderately so. Their wants are few, and generally 
easily supplied. 

What a lesson to him who rolls in affluence, sur- 
rounded by all the comforts of civilized society, and is 



ARMY LIFE. HI 

yet discontented, perhaps miserable! The old saying: 
that '''ignorance is bliss," is strikingly exemplified in 
the Indian race. What unhappy souls they would be, 
did they properly appreciate their own true condition, 
and ultimate destiny on this continent. They are fast 
fading- before the advancement of the Ang-lo-American 
race. It has been our policy from time immemorial to 
push the Indians further and further west, as the ad- 
vancing pioneer settlements crowded upon them. But 
this westward migration has its limits ; and these 
original lords of the soil will ultimately be compelle4 
to change their habits entirely, or be annihilated. 

Some of the tribes are gradually adopting the modes, 
habits and laws of the United States, and have proved 
themselves to possess considerable genius and capac- 
ity for a civilized government, others are wild and sav- 
age as the beasts upon which they subsist, and must, 
for many years, give us a vast deal of trouble. 

May ^oth. — The storm on the night of the 28th inst. 
raged most violently. The effects were to be seen on 
the following day, in the wreck of vast numbers of for- 
est trees. It did us but little damage, except to de- 
stroy our gardens. A system of gardening has lately 
become a prominent feature in garrison life. A gar- 
den is allowed to each company, to the hospital, and 
to the commanding officer and staff, at every post. I 
have the superintendence of the latter two, and find 
the duties very agreeable. 

It has for many years been customary to have gar- 
dens on a small scale, at all of the permanent fortifica- 
tions. But the present Secretary of War has ordered 



112 JOURNAL OF 

them to be much larger than formerly. This idea is a 
product of the last periodical economical fit of the Gov- 
ernment for retrenchment, and is akin to the occasional 
disposition to make the soldier Jack of all trades and 
master of none. Small gardens are essential in a hy- 
gienic point of view — large ones are unnecessary, and 
exhaust too much of the soldiers' time. Our orovern- 
ment ought to have learned ere this, that a proper di- 
vision of labor is a sine qua nan in all the pursuits of 
life. Having already expressed myself fully on this 
subject, I shall say nothing more at present. 

yune 1st, 1853' — Have just received the sad tidings 
of the death of my sister-in-law, Mrs. Thomas W. Gli- 
san. She died on the 20th of April, at the tender age 
of 22. Death! that sure but unwelcome visitor, has 
thus cast a cloud of gloom and sadness over this in- 
teresting family — 

" She is gone ! — forever gone ! The king of terrors 
Lays his rude hands upon her lovely limbs, 
And blasts her beauties with his icy breath." 

Oh, what an unexpected and paralyzing blow this is 
to brother! A wife whom he idolized, to be thus 
stricken down in all her youth and lovliness, by the 
icy hand of death! Truly, life has its sorrows! Yet 
we must not murmur. It is the will of Him who do- 
eth all things for the best to them for whom he careth. 
Our frail barks are all launched upon the stream of 
time, and must, sooner or later, be wafted into the 
ocean of eternity. 

Death is no respector of persons, but seizes alike 
the rich and the poor, the noble, and the ignoble, the 



A/?MV LIFE. 



113 



budding babe of innocence^ and the grey-headed, 
hardened sinner; the youth full of buoyancy and hope, 
and the old man who is, perhaps, disgusted with the 
things of life, and is longing for eternity. What ter- 
ror his coming sometimes produces in the bosom of 
families! How unexpected may be his summons! 
Hence it behooves us to be always ready. "For in 
such an hour as we know not the son of man cometh." 



I 14 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER X. 

INCIDENTS OF GARRISON LIFE. 

Amusing Comanche scares at the Sawmill-r-Captain Simmons relieves Brevet- 
Major Henshavv— Mirage — Deer Hunting — A party of Mormons; nearly all 
sick; their Religion — ^A visit from the Conianches; the Chief is very sick; 
and is cured by White Man's Medicine for the first time — Fatal Encounter 
between Major Arnold and Doctor Steiner — A murder by Indians; and cap- 
tivity of Mrs. Wilson — A general Courtmartial; a description of the several 
kinds of Courts — Execution of a Courtmartial i^entence — Visit from Inspec- 
tor General — Ransom and Escape of the Wilson Family from the Indians. 

JUNE 3D. — Paid a visit to the sawmill, four and a 
half miles from garrison. The owner, Mr. Will- 
liams, has the contract for supplying the fort with 
lumber. He is an industrious, generous-hearted man^ 
but fond of practical jokes. Some time ago he con- 
cluded to frighten a young man under his employment 
by getting up a false alarm of being attacked by the 
Comanches; the bugbear of this whole country. He 
and his accomplices raised the alarm at night by ap- 
plying a slow-match to a stump well charged with 
powder. At the dreadful report they ran, crying the 
Indians are upon us. 

Although it was a cold winter's night the poor dupe 
bolted for the mill pond, and came near drowning and 
freezing ere he discovered it to be a hoax. Among 
others who teased the poor fellow unmercifully about 
his stampede was a regular braggadocio — hailing from 
the same neif^^hborhood in Texas. He swore that he 
couldn't be frightened by Indians, much less by a false 



A/;;AfY LIFE. 



115 



alarm. As this ranting, prating bravo's boasts became 
intolerable, Williams concluded to put him to the test. 
Accordingly after making him believe that the Coman- 
ches were on their way to attack Fort Arbuckle, and 
exciting him to a considerable degree of fear, the con- 
spirators, with one exception, softly rose one night, 
after the unsuspecting fellow had fallen asleep, and was 
probably dreaming of scalping knives and tomahawks, 
and quietly left the room. 

Suddenly the report of a gun sounded upon the 
midnight air, then another, followed by a volley that 
made the welkin ring, intermingled with whooping, 
yelling, and the dying groans of the slain. His com- 
rade, who was in the secret, proposed a retreat. 
Whereupon the frightened wretch bolted in all haste 
for the mill pond, and swam and dove alternately, until 
reaching the opposite bank, where he hid himself in a 
dense thicket. When he was almost chilled to death 
his cruel persecutors announced the joyful tidings that 
the enemy had been driven away. He tremblingly 
returned to the cabin; but not seeing all of his com- 
panions there, inquired of their whereabouts. He 
was told that they had been killed in the fight. Just 
then the fearful crack of a rifle broke the deathly still- 
ness without, and a renewal of the attack began. 

The victim climbed up the inside of the chimney, 
but the dreadful din without paralyzed his grip, and he 
fell sprawling to the bottom. This was too much for 
the risible organs of his persecutors, but in his abject 
fear he heard not their laugh. 

Presently the carnage ceased, and one of the party 
who had lately returned from the Comanche country 



I 1 6 JOURNAL OF 

came rushing in, and stated that he had been recog- 
nized by the Indians as their friend, and that they 
desired a parley. Being deputized to treat with the 
savages, he soon returned again and said that the 
enemy had supposed they were attacking a military 
post, but on being informed of their error had hastened 
away. 

On the first of this month a party of seventeen 
persons, commanded by Colonel Lander, of Ken- 
tucky, passed through this place en route for Califor- 
nia. They are driving with them 725 head of the 
finest cattle ever seen in this country. The route they 
contemplate traveling is west of north, until striking 
the Sante Fe, or Independence road, at Fort Atkinson. 
They left the States in a hurry, without even supplying 
themselves with subsistence or clothing. The com- 
missary at this post issued them sufficient provisions 
to last to Fort Atkinson; where they anticipate re- 
plenishing their stock for the entire trip. Although 
the Colonel is intelligent, he has but little experience 
in traveling on the plains. He is likely to encounter 
other difficulties besides deficiency of food and cloth- 
ing. The immense herds of stock that have preceded 
him have, in all probability, consumed nearly all of the 
o-rass along the route. The mountains will also in 
many places be covered with snow ere he can reach 
his destination. A few weeks earlier start would have 
enabled him to avoid all of these obstacles. 

As the emigration of this year is so far ahead of 
him, he will be compelled, unless he can secure a 
military escort, to travel with his small party alone 
through the wild Indian country, at great risk of 



AJ?3iy LIFE. 



117 



property and life. But what will men not endure for 
gold! 

yune 11th, 1833' — On the 4th inst., Captain Seneca 
G. Simmons arrived, and assumed command of the 
post, by virtue of his rank. This change, although 
perfectly proper and legitimate, sets very hard on the 
former commander, Brevet-Major John C. Henshaw, 
as he will now simply command his own company, 
and draw the pay and emoluments of Captain, instead 
of commanding the whole garrison, and drawing the 
double rations allowed to Post Commanders; and the 
pay of Major, according to his brevet rank. 

yujie 23th, 1833' — Whilst out on a reconnoitering 
expedition, a short time ago, we beheld one of those 
strange atmospheric illusions which so often delude 
the huntsman and traveler. The prairie before us 
assumed the appearance of a beautiful lake, skirted 
with shady groves. A change in the air after a while 
dissipated this charming mirage. This singular meteor- 
ological phenomenon is very common on the Llano- 
estacado, a little west of here, but I have never wit- 
nessed it but twice in the Indian Territory. I saw it 
for the first time, in the vicinity of our old camp, near 
the Canadian river. Being out alone on a hunting 
trip, I beheld before me a herd of monstrously large 
animals, which resembled deer in symmetry and color, 
but appeared almost as large as camels. 

Although having an indefinite idea of mirages, I 
was, for a moment, surprised and alarmed. The illu- 
sion disappeared with the fleeing of the animals, which 



Il8 JOURNAL OF 

were undoubtedly deer, magnified by a peculiar refrac- 
tion of the atmosphere. Although making no allusions 
to deer hunting since leaving old Camp Arbuckle, I 
have, nevertheless, had considerable sport in this line 
during my sojourn at this fort, but my former enthu- 
siasm for the amusement has abated considerably. 
The novice in hunting, as in the study of medicine, 
sometimes imagines he knows more than his preceptor. 
I fancy, however, that my novitiate is now passed in 
both of these callings, and that I am both an average 
physician and hunter. Although my first success in 
deer hunting was with a shot-gun, I now, like most 
all frontiersmen, use a rifle, carrying a large, or half- 
ounce ball, and having a plain, open back-sight. Al- 
though a much smaller ball will kill a deer if it pierce 
his vitals, or some large blood-vessel, yet, the larger 
ball is necessary to bring him down, when not struck 
in very vital parts. The modern, elevating back-sight 
is good at a target, or at very long ranges when deer 
are feeding, but for still-hunting, generally, it is incon- 
venient and almost useless, as the deer is up and off 
almost as soon as the sportsman halts to shoot, if not 
before. 

A person approaching a deer lying down, should, 
other things being equal, move across the wind, be- 
cause the animal generally turns his head from the 
wind, and can see the enemy approach in that direc- 
tion, and is able to smell him if he come from the other 
side. Deer live mostly on grass, and feed early in 
the morninof and late in the evenino-. These are the 
best periods for finding them, as it is very difficult to 
see them when they are lying down, because their 



A/?MV LIFE. I ig 

color is similar to so many things generally found in 
the thickets and prairies where they make their beds. 
As a deer is one of the shyest animals known, it is ne- 
cessary to approach him very cautiously under cover 
of some intervening object, or if in the level prairie, 
to crawl along in the grass, and stop every time the 
animal gives signs of alarm, by shaking his tail, or 
elevating his head. 

I have always met with the best success in hunting 
these animals after a light fall of snow, which would 
enable me to follow their tracks, and at the same time 
deaden the sound of my steps. A few years ago deer 
could be found in vast herds in these western prairies, 
but they are now becoming so scarce that it is rare, 
indeed, that over half a dozen can be seen at a time. 

We have as much sport in hunting wild geese, at 
the proper season, in this country, as in pursuit of any 
other kind of game. Especially when large flocks of 
them light in the low, grassy bottoms, along the 
Washita River. For we can frequently, by lying down 
on our horses, and approaching as though we intended 
to pass by them, come almost in gunshot range; then 
when they begin to slowly rise, we spur our horses at 
full speed in among them, and fire on the wing, bring- 
ing down from one to three at a shot. The wounded 
ones are very cunning and swift in hiding in the grass, 
ponds, or branches that chance to be near; and occasion- 
ally I have known them to dive to the bottom of the 
water and hold on to a root or weed, and there die 
like the wounded Mallard duck; but the propensity is 
not so common as with the latter. 



I20 JOURNAL OF 

July gth, 1S53- — Have been engaged for the last 
few days as Judge Advocate of a General Courtmar- 
tial which convened at this post on the 5th of this 
month. It was in session four days — during which 
time we tried seven cases. 

One of the prisoners from Fort Towson, by the name 
of Wright, who was tried for abusing, striking, and dis- 
obeying a corporal of his company, made a most elo- 
quent speech in his own defense. Why such an intel- 
ligent American as he should have enlisted as a pri- 
vate soldier is an enigma. He, probably, took this 
step in a fit of disgust at some moral or social delin- 
quency on his part. 

As previously stated, it is no rare occurrence for 
educated foreigners to serve a five years' enlistment 
merely for the purpose of employment and support 
until they have obtained a better knowledge of our 
language; but native Americans hardly ever enter the 
ranks in time of peace, unless they have been guilty 
of some misdemeanor. 

July 24th. — A party of eighty Mormons arrived 
here on Thursday, and left to-day en route for Salt 
Lake City. It is composed of men, women and 
children — rather more males than females. They are 
from the vicinity of Galveston, Texas; four hundred 
miles a little east of south of this place; and have 
been two months on the way. They have had, and 
still have, much sickness; having lost four of their 
number. Had they not reached here when they did 
one half of the party might have died. Supposing 
that I would charge for my services they at first con- 



4' 



J^ 



^<^: 






V 






\m W 



■mi 






^^V^r."- 




ARMY LIFE. 1 2 i 

suited me only in their most serious cases. But after 
learning that my attention would be rendered gratui- 
tously they called on me to prescribe for all the sick; 
who are at present convalescent, and in a fair way to 
recover. 

I have no cause of regfret in attendingr them free of 
charge, except in the case of an old ungrateful miser, 
who would not ask my assistance until after learning 
my resolution of not charging, notwithstanding his 
family were very ill. Although wealthy, he did not 
so much as thank me for my professional attention. 
It would not surprise me in the least that were I ever 
to pass through Utah in distress, and seek aid at his 
door, he should refuse assistance. It is stated that the 
close-fisted old fellow is not aware that he will be 
compelled to divide his treasure with his poorer 
Mormon brethren on his arrival into Brigham Young's 
dominions. It will be like taking his life to despoil 
him of his worldly goods. 

The men and officers having- a desire to hear the 
peculiar doctrine of the Mormons, the commanding 
officer requested Mr. Thomas, the Elder, to preach for 
us; which he did on three occasions. 

He said that they believe the Protestant Bible liter- 
ally, so far as it goes, but that it does not contain one 
half of the inspired writings. That the Book of 
Mormons, and the Revelations of Joe Smith, make 
up the deficiency. That God is in every res^Dect made 
like man, except that his body contains no blood. 
That although his spirit fills the universe, his body has 
a local habitation somewhere in the heavens. That 
Jesus Christ was begotten by God in the same manner 



122 JOURNAL OF 

precisely as any human child by his father. That 
man, at the resurrection, resumes the identical body 
he had on earth, minus the blood; and claims his same 
wife, or wives, and children. That he can beget 
children in heaven in the same way they are begotten 
in this world. That such children become inhabitants 
of other spheres. They being then considered in their 
second condition; we being now in our first condition 
or estate. That the Mormon prophets have direct 
communication with the Lord, and can perform mira- 
cles as of old. That Joe Smith was truly an inspired 
man, and conversed vnth God as did the ancient 
Hebrew prophets. That they believe in a plurality 
of wives as a religious sentirnent; not as a dictate of 
the passions. That they have as precedents in this 
faith the Jews, and two thirds of the present inhabi- 
tants of the earth. That the object of matrimony 
being to beget children, and bring them up in the fear 
of the Lord, the most pious and wealthy men should 
have the greater number of wives. That when any 
of their denomination wishes a second wife he must 
first ask permission of his wife or wives; then of the 
President of the Church, who receives a direct revela- 
tion upon the subject from God; afterward of the 
parents of his intended; and lastly of the lady herself. 
They affirm baptism to be absolutely essential to 
redemption — that it literally washes out our sins. 
They pretend to quote the Bible in its literal sense. 
But I observed Mr, Thomas in his quotations of 
certain passages of scripture would sometimes give a 
literal; and as often a figurative, interpretation. He 
would, however, do so in such an adroit manner that 



AJ?MV LIFE. 



123 



his poor, deluded followers could not tell the differ- 
ence. His first two sermons sounded very much like 
good old hardshell baptist harangues, but the last one 
contained the doctrinal parts of their faith. 

Several of the most intelligent persons among them 
did not hesitate to express their utter surprise at some 
parts of the Mormon creed; and stated that it was the 
first. time they had heard it; and could they retrace 
their steps home, they would certainly do so, but 
feared an attempt at returning through the wild Indian 
country. 

September 14th, 2853- — We learn through private 
letters, and the public press, that United States troops 
are being ordered in large number; to the Rio Grande. 
The move is made to counteract that of the Mexican 
authorities, who have thrown large bodies of troops 
upon that frontier. 

News arrived last night that Santa Anna, with 
10,000 men, had crossed the Rio Grande and taken 
Fort Brown — or rather Brownsville. As we are 
ignorant of the present relations of the two govern- 
ments, we can for.m no idea of the truth or falsity of 
this rumor. It seems highly impossible that Santa 
Anna could have made such a movement without our 
ofovernment beinof aware of his hostile attitude. How- 
ever, it is certain that our troops are being concen- 
trated on the Rio Grande. Eight companies of the 
Fifth Infantry, our nearest neighbors, have received 
marching orders for the field of excitement. We are 
daily expecting orders for the same destination. 



124 JOURNAL OF 

September 20I/1, 1853- — Notwithstanding our post 
is within that wide range of country claimed as a 
hunting ground by the Comanches, the most numer- 
ous, hostile and warlike of all the Indians of the 
plains, they have rarely deigned to notice us, except 
by threats of utter extermination unless we would re- 
move from their country. They have a very imper- 
fect idea of the power and greatness of the United 
States; but a most exalted opinion of their own 
prowess and magnificence. Finding that we paid no 
attention to their threats, and learning that we had not 
come into their so-called hunting ground with any 
hostile feelings toward them, one of their small bands 
made us a visit. The chief, and a few of his warriors, 
being prostrated while here with a severe form of 
malarious dysentery, were prevailed upon by some 
of the half-civilized Indians to try my professional 
skill. Happily I got them all well — whereupon the 
old chief thanked me for my kindness, and made 
me a present of a handsome pony. I at first declined 
the gift; but, on being assured by the interpreter that 
his highness would feel very much hurt at my refusal, 
I consented to receive it; yet subsequently gave him, 
in return, articles of far more value to him than the 
animal. Had the chief, or any of his head men, died 
under my treatment, his people would have believed 
them poisoned. As they fortunately all recovered I 
shall doubtless always be considered by the Coman- 
ches as a ofreat '' medicine man." 

Having heard so much of their expert horseman- 
ship we induced the chief to let a few of his young 
men exhibit their equestrian feats. He consented to 



ARMY LIFE. 



125 



do so if some of the officers would accompany him to 
a convenient spot outside of the garrison. They are 
undoubtedly as expert riders as any in the world. 

It might be worth while to add a few more remarks, 
to those already made elsewhere, concerning this pe- 
culiar race of Indians. From all accounts their habits 
now are precisely as they were when the Spaniards 
first met them in 1541 ; except that in those early days 
they possessed no horses, and^ of course, knew not 
how to ride. According to their tradition, they emi- 
grated from South America early in the fourteenth 
century, and lived on the plains near the head waters 
of the Brazos and Colorado, in peace and happiness, 
until the Spaniards visited their hunting grounds and 
built fortifications. The Comanches believine that the 
Spaniards had acted in bad faith toward them, declared 
war, and drove the latter out of their country. 

After awhile the Spaniards succeeded in getting a 
large number of the Indians to attend a big council at 
Monclovia, and having previously mined the council 
grounds with gunpowder, blew the unsuspecting 
wretches in the air — the few who were not killed by 
the explosion being subsequently massacred. Hence 
the intense hatred ever since borne by the latter to- 
wards all descendants of the Spanish race. They have 
many Mexican captives among them, mostly small 
children, who are trained to be as arrant freebooters 
as themselves. They usually kill all adult male 
prisoners. Their religion consists in an indefinite kind 
of faith in a Great Spirit, who can only be reached 
through the mediation of the sun, to whom they make 



126 JOURNAL OF 

known their wants; and who dispenses good and evil 
to the supplicants in proportion to their deeds. 

A few of them . believe that they will go, after dy- 
ing, to a happy hunting ground — but many think that 
death ends their career forever. At the decease of a 
warrior his clothes are burnt, his war and hunting im- 
plements, best dog and favorite horse, are placed in the 
same grave with himself. His friends mourn his loss 
by howling about his last resting place for a few nights, 
and then change their camp for at least six moons. 

November 1st, 2833- — Although considerable excite- 
ment still exists in the moving and changing of regi- 
ments; yet there are no actual, and probably will be 
no immediate difficulties with Mexico. That Santa 
Anna is raising and sending large numbers of troops 
to the frontier is true, but the explanation of this ac- 
tion now is, that they are intended to put a stop to 
the inroads of the Indians, who have been for a long 
time committing depredations in Mexico, and possibly 
to overawe such of the Northern provinces of the lat- 
ter country as are disaffected toward the present gov- 
ernment. We see by the papers that there has 
recently been an unfortunate encounter between Major 
Ripley A. Arnold, of the Second Dragoons, command- 
ing Fort Graham, and Assistant Surgeon Josephus M. 
Steiner, of that post, in which the former was killed. 
Particulars not stated. 

Docter Madison has written me that a party of four 
Indians recently robbed a wagon on the road from El 
Paso to Phantom Hill — shot and scalped the driver, 
a Mexican, leaving him apparently dead ; took as pris- 



ARMY LIFE. 12'] 

oners a Mrs. Wilson and her two brothers-in-law 
(small boys), and drove off the team. There were no 
other persons with the vehicle at the time. Four men 
connected with it were absent; one of whom, a Ger- 
man, was a day behind with a tired horse. Two of the 
others had deserted, and the fourth one had gone in 
pursuit to recover some stolen horses. The German 
coming up in the night, found the wagon robbed, and 
the Mexican badly wounded. He dressed his wounds 
on the following morning, and putting him on his 
horse, traveled a short distance, when the animal gave 
out, and the Mexican was left on the roadside to die. 
After proceeding a short distance the German lost his 
road, and lay down to perish, but was picked up a few 
days thereafter by a detachment of dragoons, who 
were out scouting. The Mexican was also found still 
alive, although terribly mutilated, and having gone 
a week without food. He had managed to walk about 
fifty miles from the place of the massacre. 

November 2;^, J 833- — As both my pony and^ horse 
have been lame, I have lately been compelled to do 
my hunting on foot. On the loth instant I killed so 
many ducks and turkeys that it became necessary to 
send a vehicle to bring them in. 

Being out hunting alone the other day my dog was 
pursued by a band of large wolves, who followed him 
close to my heels. In order to protect him it became 
necessary to shoot down a couple of his pursuers. 
Wolves, generally, are very cowardly, especially the 
coyote or prairie wolf; but the larger varieties do 
sometimes, when very hungry, become hostile. 



128 JOURNAL OF 

Captain Simmons and myself caught, a few days ago 
in Wild Horse Creek, several of the largest catfish 
we have ever seen in this part of the country — one of 
them weighing nearly forty pounds. In one of my 
fishing trips not long since, it became necessary to 
clamber over a ledge of rocks. In so doing I unfor- 
tunately fell into a deep fissure or crevice; when, lo 
and behold^ a water moccasin began running furiously 
around my legs trying to make his escape, which he 
finally succeeded in accomplishing, much to my satis- 
faction, as well as his own. The bite of this reptile is 
as poisonous as that of the rattle-snake. 

December i6th, 1833- — A general courtmartial con- 
vened at this post on the twelfth instant — of which 
Major Henshaw is President, and myself Judge Ad- 
vocate. It was composed of seven members; and 
being in session four days, tried five prisoners. A 
courtmartial is analagous to those civil tribunals where 
the judges try cases without the aid of juries. The 
Judge Advocate has the triplicate duties to perform of 
prosecutor for the government, attorne}' for the de- 
fence and recorder of the court. In other words, it is 
his duty to see that the prisoners have a fair and im- 
partial trial; and at the same time that the military 
laws are properly brought to bear on every case 
brought before the tribunal for adjudication. There 
is what is called a garrison, a regimental, and a general, 
courtmartial. The former has cognizance of minor 
offences — such as drunkenness on duty, neglect of 
duty, unsoldier-like conduct, etc., and is generally 
composed of three or four members stationed at the 



AJ?MV LIFE, 



129 



post. The officer of the highest rank acts as presi- 
dent, and the junior member as recorder. The com- 
mander of the post orders tlie session of the garrison 
court, and reviews its proceedings, and either ap- 
proves or disapproves its findings. 

The regimental court is convened by order of the 
colonel of the regiment, who has authority to confirm 
or disapprove of the sentence. 

A general court is convened by the general com- 
manding the department or division, or the General of 
the Army — and sometimes by the Secretary of War. 
It is composed of from five to thirteen members, ex- 
clusive of the Judge Advocate, who is not considered 
a member of the court, and consequently has no vote 
in the deliberations. "The power to pardon or miti- 
gate the punishment ordered by a court-martial is 
vested in the authority confirming the proceedings, and 
in the President of the United States. A superior 
military commander to the officer confirming the pro- 
ceedings may suspend the execution of the sentence 
when, in his judgment, it is void upon the face of the 
proceedings, or when he sees a fit case' for executive 
clemency. In such cases the record, with his order 
prohibiting the execution, shall be transmitted for the 
final order of the President." 

The court opens by the Judge Advocate's reading 
the general order for its session in the presence of the 
prisoner, and any spectators who may choose to be 
present. The prisoner is then asked whether he has 
objections to any of the members named in the order. 
If he object to any member, he is required to state his 
objections ; when the court is cleared — that is, all 



130 JOURNAL OF 

persons who are not members are requested to with- 
draw. The court then proceeds to determine whether 
there is sufficient cause for the challenge. If it sus- 
tains the objections, the challenged member vacates 
his seat — otherwise, he retains it. The Judge Advo- 
cate next swears the court, and is in his turn sworn by 
the President. After this the charges and specifica- 
tions against the prisoner are read to him, and his plea 
of guilty or not guilty taken to each specification, and 
lastly to the charge. If he plead guilty to them all, 
no testimony is taken in the case, at least by the 
prosecution; but the prisoner may be allowed to bring 
forward evidence to palliate his offense. If he plead 
not guilty, the witnesses for the prosecution are sworn 
and examined as in civil courts. When the prosecu- 
tion closes, the witnesses for the defense are examined 
in regular order. 

After the testimony for the accused has been con- 
cluded, the prisoner is permitted to hand in a written 
defense, which may be read to the court either by 
himself or the Judge Advocate. The court is then 
closed, and proceeds to deliberate on the evidence 
before it, and determines the guilt or innocence of the 
prisoner, and pronounces the sentence accordingly. 
The junior member votes first, then the next in rank, 
and so on up to the President; or at least until two- 
thirds of the court vote for the same thine — this num- 
ber being essential to a decision. 

After the proceedings have been sent to the review- 
ing authority, they are published in orders to the 
various posts in the department ; and to the whole 
army^ if the matter had been laid before the President 



AJ?J/Y LIFE. I 3 I 

of the United States, which is usually the case where 
a commissioned officer has been tried. 

yanuary lyth, iS54- — To-day the command was 
marched in parade to witness the execution of a court- 
martial sentence on private Nower. Being tied to a 
tree he received fifty lashes on the bare back with a 
rawhide, and was then drummed out of the service. 
His crime was desertion — the only one for which whip- 
ping is allowed at the present time in the army. 

February 2jth, i834- — On the nineteenth instant 
we were honored by an unexpected visit from Brevet- 
Lieutenant Colonel Edward R, S. Canby, Assistant 
Inspector-General. However well pleased he may 
have been with the position of the post and kindred 
matters, I fear his delight was not very great concern- 
ing the proficiency of the men in drilling, or even with 
the cleanliness of the garrison. For the fact is, that 
the men have been of late so pressed in erecting quar- 
ters, that they have had no time to devote to the usual 
garrison duties. In the review of the troops I had the 
honor of acting as the Colonel's Aid. 

Two little boys have lately been ransomed from the 
Comanches, and brought to this fort. They, and 
their sister-in-law, Mrs. Wilson, are the three unfortu- 
nate persons whom the Indians carried off from near 
Phantom Hill last summer ; an account of which is 
given a few pages back. The lady has also made 
her escape into New Mexico. The particulars of 
her cruel treatment, while with the savages, call for 
vengeance on the part of the government. She was 



132 JOURNAL OF 

a prisoner twenty-five days. For nearly a fortnight 
subsequent to her escape she subsisted upon hackber- 
ries; and would have perished had not a trading party 
of Mexicans come across her. 

A fearful retribution is awaiting these Bedouins of 
the plains. The American people cannot much longer 
submit to their depredations and murders in Texas and 
New Mexico. We are also bound by treaty stipula- 
tions with Mexico to protect her from the marauding 
incursions of these Indians. This clause in the treaty 
has never been fully carried out by the United States. 
Our small army scattered as it is all over the immense 
frontier, is unequal to the task. The War Depart- 
ment has accomplished as much as possible with the 
few troops at its command. Congress is penny- 
wise and pound foolish in keeping such a diminutive 
force of regular soldiers on the borders of the Indian 
country. 




Ill If "'I 



AJ^A/y LIFE. ' 133 



CHAPTER XI. 

CONTINUANCE AT FORT ARBUCKLE." 

Murder of Colonel Stern, and remarkable fate of the Indians who committed the 
act — A visit to Caddo Village— A magnificent view from the Washita Moun- 
tains — Prairie Dogs — Climate — Our Society augmented — A curious Ceremony 
among the Kickapoos, and singular coincidence — Hurricane — Service of the 
Troops — Temporary exchange of Posts with Doctor Stone — A Suicide — To 
be relieved by Dr. Williams — Become Poetical. 

MARCH I 8th, 1854. — On the thirteenth of this 
month Lieutenant Arthur D. Free, of the 
Second Dragoons, with a detachment of twenty men, 
arrived at this place. They are in pursuit of a party 
of Indians for the murder of Colonel Stern, Indian 
Aeent for the Texas frontier. The Colonel and a 
friend were traveling in a carriage to Fort Belknap, 
and were murdered within six miles of that post. 
Their coats^ baggage and mules were carried off by 
the murderers. The latter evidently committed the 
horrid deed by blows from a rifle — one being found 
on the spot with the barrel bent and the stock broken 
to pieces. A tomahawk was also used. There ap- 
peared to have been but two shots fired, one of which 
passed through the side of the carriage. 

A detachment of dracroons took the trail of the 
perpetrators of this bloody act, and followed it so far 
as the Washita mountains, when a heavy rain erased 
every vestige of the same. The troops then returned 
to Fort Belknap — having found an arrow, a pair of 
moccasins, and several other articles which the mur- 



134 ' JOURNAL 01- 

dercrs had left on the route. In all instances of this 
kind the troops employ Indians as guides. On the 
present occasion they had two Delawares, named Bill 
and Jim Shaw. A good Indian guide can follow a 
trail with most surprising accuracy. He can detect 
signs in a moment, which an inexperienced white man 
would find impossible to perceive even when shown 
him. 

At Fort Belknap a clew to the murderers was 
gained from a party of Wacos, whom the military 
authorities had in custody. The first detachment of 
dragoons sent in pursuit being tired, a fresh and 
smaller one was dispatched to this post; where they 
arrived as before mentioned. The description of the 
Indians guilty of the massacre caused suspicion to 
rest at first upon a small party of supposed Kicka- 
poos, who passed Nelson's house, twenty-seven miles 
from here, last Saturday; and offered for sale some 
trace chains; and who had several uniform coats, and 
quite a lot of money. 

Black Beaver, a well known Delaware Indian, being 
sent for, arrived, and stated that the suspected party 
were Delawares, and had obtained the articles alluded 
to from the quartermaster at Fort Belknap. Lieuten- 
ant Free, on getting a true description of them, con- 
firmed his statement. Beaver further said that he had 
been told by several Kickapoos that one of their tribe 
by the name of Sa-kok-wah — his two English names 
being Morgan and Pole-cat — and a half-breed known 
as Pe-a-tah-kak (half Kickapoo and Pi-an-ke-shaw), 
accompanied by the former's brother-in-law, a little 
boy, had committed the dreadful deed. 



AJ^MV LIFE. 13; 

The Kickapoo chief, Mosqua, and a prominent man 
of the tribe by the name of Johnson being sent for by 
the commanding officer, the latter came promptly, and 
stated that the former would come after awhile. In 
answer to' the inquiries, Johnson said that the sus- 
pected men had been in his camp for several days, but 
had made their escape that morning after learning that 
they were to be surrendered for punishment. That 
one of them, just previous to his getting away, had 
been tied to prevent his desertion. 

Knowing the treachery of the Indian character, we 
doubted this statement at the time, but our suspicions 
were completely removed by the announcement yes- 
terday morning that the Kickapoos had made every 
exertion to capture these men; and had succeeded in 
securing the half-breed, or one-eyed man, who was 
then being brought in. Soon after this the Kickapoos 
in charge of the captive arrived and stated that the 
fellow endeavored to make his escape, and was shot 
by Johnson. The corpse was brought to garrison and 
buried. Thus ended the career of one of them. 
The most desperate villain is still at large, but will 
doubtless be caught. 

From the boy we obtained all the particulars of the 
murder; of which he was only a spectator. 'Tis re- 
markable that two strong white men, well armed, 
should be attacked and killed by the same number of 
Indians, without making some resistance. From the 
boy's account they must have been paralyzed with 
fear. For although there were two shots fired by the 
Indians, neither took effect. The savages rushed upon 
their victims with a tomahawk and empty rifle. 



136 JOURNAL OF 

March 2gth, i854- — To-day the head of Sa-kok-wah, 
the other murderer of Colonel Stern and friend, was 
brought to garrison. He was killed by his own 
brother at Tom Pe-can's village, some forty miles 
north of this post. It had been agreed between 
Captain Simmons and Mosqua, that if Sa-hok-wah 
could not be brought in alive, he must be killed. And 
should this occur within twenty miles of here we would 
go out to identify the body. If further, his head was 
to be delivered at this post. 

When Sa-kok-wah reached Pe-can's village he took 
dinner with his brother, and told him that he had been 
arrested at Mosqua's camp for killing two white men; 
and that subsequent to his escape he had smuggled 
himself into the Kickapoo camp for the night, not- 
withstanding a watch had been set for him, and that 
he lay several days in ambush near Fort Arbuckle. 
On being asked by his brother where he intended to 
go, he replied either to Missouri or the Comanche 
country. Then looking out of the hut and perceiving 
some Kickapoos coming in pursuit, he started to run; 
but his brother slipped up behind, and knocked him in 
the head with a hatchet. 

Although this action of the brother appears to be 
savagely cruel, it is a common custom among wild 
Indians, and some of the partially civilized, for the 
nearest of kin to execute the sentence in capital 
crimes. This sad event ought to satisfy the govern- 
ment, that although the Kickapoos, like every other 
tribe of Indians, and every nationality of whites, have 
bad men among them whom their leaders cannot 
always control, yet they are ever willing to punish 



ARMY LIFE. I 37 

their culprits, or give them up for punishment, if 
properly approached upon the subject. It also in- 
culcates a lesson to some of our hot-headed govern- 
ment officials to be calm and judicious, as well as firm, 
in their demands upon Indians for offences against the 
laws of the land. 

Had Captain Simmons, instead of pursuing the 
temperate but decided course he did, listened to the 
advice of some of his juniors, and surrounded the 
Kickapoo camp on the first night of the arrival of the 
detachment of dragoons, before any explanation was 
made to them of our intentions, a bloody engagement 
would doubtless have resulted. For in the excitement 
of the moment they might have thought we had come 
to fight, or at least to intimidate, them, when their 
hot-blooded young men would have been up in arms 
in a moment. Commanders often reap the praise due 
their subordinates; but in this instance the conduct of 
Captain Seneca G, Simmons deserves high commend- 
ation. 

April 6th, 1334. — The sutler and I took a trip to 
the Cad-do village on the twenty-eighth of last month, 
and were absent several days. The camp consists of 
about twenty-five conical lodges, made of poles cov- 
ered with grass — resembling very much hay-stacks. 
A fire is built in the centre of each, with no outlet for 
the smoke except a single opening at the side, used 
as a door. The chief offered us the hospitality of his 
lodge, but we kindly told him that we preferred to eat 
and sleep in the open air. These Indians are almost 
as uncivilized as the Comanches; but are feeble in 
numbers and spirit. 



o 



8 JOURNAL OF 



For twenty miles of our honieward course we trav- 
eled along the summit of the Washita mountains, the 
geological features of which are somewhat curious. 
Running east and west are numerous parallel ledges 
of limestone rock, about eight feet apart, with inter- 
vening spaces of level ground, covered with gravel, 
and occasional patches of grass, and boulders of 
iron ore. The average height of the projections is 
about fifteen inches. The view of the surrounding 
country from one of the highest points of the moun- 
tain range is extremely beautiful. 

To the south for many miles the eye rests on green, 
undulating prairies, bounded in the dim distance by 
the "cross timbers" — a belt of trees stretching for 
hundreds of miles through the western portions of the 
Indian Territory and Texas. To the north lay the 
charming valley of the Washita. 

On this trip we saw many small villages of prairie 
dogs, but none of them were as large as a town we 
passed through last summer near Red river, some fifty 
miles from Fort Arbuckle. On that particular occa- 
sion we amused ourselves for hours in watching the 
curious antics of these interesting; creatures. 

The prairie dog is a small rodent animal, having a 
body about a foot long, and a tail two and a half 
inches in length. Its back and sides are of a light, 
dirty reddish color; and the under part of its body is of 
a dirty white. It has moderately long black whiskers. 
Its resemblance is between that of a small fice and 
grey squirrel. It lives in poor, dry soil, and is grega- 
rious in its habits, throwing up mounds of earth in vast 
numbers in some parts ot the western prairies. On 
approaching one of their towns it is amusing to see, 



ARMY LIFE. I 39 

on almost every mound, one of these little animals 
sitting on its hinder parts, with the head and fore feet 
upright, apparently on guard duty. They rarely per- 
mit a stranger to come within gun-shot distance. 

Having heard so much of their carrying the wounded 
into their burrows, we were tempted to test the ex- 
periment — but relented before fully satisfying ourselves 
on this point, as the poor, harmless little animals 
looked so pitiful that we could not shoot them down 
out of mere scientific curiosity. 

May 2^t/i, 1834' — The weather is quite warm and 
sultry. A residence of several years convinces me 
that this climate is very enervating; and so far as mala- 
rial fevers are concerned, very sickly. I do not judge 
from myself, because my health is always good any 
and everywhere; but from my experience as a physi- 
cian. If our summers were as dry as they are said to 
be in some parts of New Mexico, and especially on 
the Pacific coast, we would not feel the heat so op- 
pressively; but as the air is frequently humid during 
the hottest season, the high temperature becomes ex- 
ceedingly debilitating. The themometer rises in the 
shade as high as loi in summer, and sometimes sinks 
to zero in winter. 

The rain-fall is almost equally distributed between 
the four seasons — summer and autumn getting rather 
the larger share. The prevailing winds in summer are 
from the south; in winter from the north. There is 
not usually much snow — but, as before mentioned, we 
had quite a deep fall of it at the old camp in the winter 
of 1851. 

The following summary of the climate is compiled 



140 



yOUKXAL OF 



from my meteorological observations taken at this 
post^ including- the early part of 1 851, as observed at 
•the camp on the Canadian river, twenty-five miles in a 
direct line north of this fort : 

Meteorological Observations at Fort Arbuckle, Indian Territory. Lati- 
tude 34° 27' North — Longitude 97° 09' West of Greenwich. Altitude 
1000 feet . 



MONTHLY MEAN OF TEMPERATURE. 



January . . . 
February . . 
March . . . 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August. . . 
September 
October . . . 
November , 
December . 



1S51 



39 28 
43 " 
54 62 
56 96 
69 II 
7S 03 
Si 83 
S4 55 
77 13 
62 80 

45 56 

39 47 



1S52 



36 77 
47 07 
53 76 
59 77 
70 25 
73 "I 
78 26 
78 04 
69 05 
63 II 
45 10 
38 82 



1853 

41 33 
40 68 

51 24 
64 26 
66 25 
77 35 
79 50 
81 81 

74 51 
60 77 

52 91 

42 44 





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ARMY LIFE. 



141 



May 3isi, i854- — 0^^ the sixth instant, Lieutenant 
Henry Douglass took his departure to join the Eighth 
Regiment of Infantry, to which he has been promoted. 
He is a cheerful and pleasant companion. I never 
saw him otherwise, except when convalescent from an 
attack of typhoid fever; when he became so depressed 
in spirits, and sensitive, that he seemed totally unlike 
himself. He has our best wishes for a long and pros- 
perous life. 

Our little circle has been increased by the arrival of 
two very agreeable demoiselles — the daughters of 
Major Daniel P. Whiting, of the Seventh Infantry. 

On the twenty-sixth of this month, a few friends 
and myself paid a visit to the Kickapoo village to 
witness their annual ceremony of extinguishing all the 
fires in camp. As this last observance of their singu- 
lar rite coincided with an eclipse of the sun, of which 
we foretold them, they became somewhat alarmed; 
and wondered how we could know that the sun was to 
be darkened on that particular day. These ignorant 
people have much to learn before they can appreciate 
how much, and yet how little, scientific men know of 
the mysteries of the universe. 

Fori Arhickle, "June 13th, 28^4. — Captain R. B. 
Marcy is daily expected on his way for the frontier of 
Texas, where he is ordered to survey a tract of country 
which the latter State has ceded to the United States 
for an Indian reservation. He will take an escort of 
forty men and two commissioned officers from this 
post. We are also daily looking for Brevet-Major 
Whiting's company, which is to be stationed here. 



142 JOURNAL OF 

The present season has been unusually wet and 
stormy. About ten days ago a tornado visited 
portions of western Texas and the Indian Territory — 
sweeping everything before it. At Fort Towson 
many of the public buildings were unroofed, and the 
garrison trees blown up by the roots. It spent its 
greatest force in the vicinity of Gainesville, on Red 
river, in Texas. All of the houses were blown down, 
and the logs, boards and shingles scattered for miles 
around. A very heavy sill was carried four miles, a 
horse two miles, a woman three miles, a child four 
miles — many persons were killed — seven in one 
house. 

jfune 26ih; 1834- — Our command has been increased 
by two companies of the Seventh Infantry — making 
four in all — viz: C, G, H and K, — each eighty-four 
strong; or a total of 336 men; besides officers and 
families. 

Captain Marcy arrived here on- the twenty-first 
instant; and left for Texas* on the twenty-fourth with 
an escort of forty men, under Lieutenant N. B. Pearce. 

September 21st, 1S34- — I have given up my quarters 
in garrison to one of the married officers, and am now 
living in a log cabin near the hospital. Very retired 
and convenient for study — to which I devote all my 
leisure time — but a little too lonely at night. 

The commissioned officers belonging to this fort are 
Major George Andrews, Brevet-Major Theophilus H. 
Holmes, Brevet-Major Daniel P. Whitney, Captain 
Seneca G. Simmons, Brevet- Major John C. Henshaw, 



ARMY LIFE. I 43 

Lieutenant Mathew R. Stevenson, Brevet-Captain 
Franklin Gardner, Brevet-Captain Wm. K. Van Bok- 
kelen, Lieutenants Samuel B. Hayman, Henry M. 
Black, Robert R. Garland, N. B. Pearce, Gorden 
Chapin and David P. Hancock. I am the only physi- 
cian. Several of the Lieutenants are on detached 
service. 

As the married officers have their families with 
them, we have quite an intelligent and gay little socie- 
ty. Too pleasant entirely for a bachelor — so I may 
expect to be soon crowded out by some doctor who 
has a wife. But as I have served the usual time on 
the frontier to entitle me to a short leave of absence, a 
few months on East will probably be granted ere 
going on another tour of isolation. 

A stranger in glancing over these pages might fancy, 
from the rare allusions made to professional duties, that 
I have done little else than fish, hunt, and gallop over 
the surrounding prairies. The fact is, that the few 
items dotted down in this journal are intended as a 
mental recreation to prevent my mind running too 
closely in a narrow professional groove. 

I am, in medical matters, a good deal like my old 
friend. Judge Worthington of Baltimore, who, strolling 
into my office one day, as was his frequent habit, was 
questioned by me upon some legal cases being tried in 
his court of great interest to the public generally. 
"My friend," said he, "please do not ask me profes- 
sional questions, as I have come here to get rid of 
the court-room and all its exhausting duties — my mind 
needs rest." 

As the troops have fought no battles since the estab- 



144 JOURNAL OF 

Hshment of Fort Arbuckle, it might also be asked of 
what service they have been to the Government? 
Their mere presence had the effect of impressing upon 
the Indians the power and authority of the United 
States, and of vastly lessening the depredations of 
these nomadic races upon our otherwise unprotected 
frontier. They are here also in order to fulfill our 
treaty stipulations with the Choctaws, whose western 
limits we have kept free from the inroads of the lawless 
wild Indians. They have also protected emigrant par- 
ties, prevented, in a great measure, the introduction of 
liquor into the Indian country; and arrested, or been 
the means of punishing several murderers, and other 
fugitives from justice. Had our force been larger at 
the beginning; or a few companies of dragoons been 
stationed here, many more excursions into the wild 
Indian country might have been made. The number 
of troops is now amply sufficient for almost any emer- 
gency — still there ought to be at least one company 
of dragoons. 

October 23th, i834. — Been on a visit to Fort Wash- 
ita — having made a mutual exchange of posts with 
Doctor Lyman H. Stone, from the third until the elev- 
enth of October. Should have staid longer, but, being 
a witness before a court martial, was obliged to return. 
Had a delighful time. 

Washita is garrisoned by two companies of light 
artillery, Brevet- Lieut. Col. Braxton Bragg in com- 
mand. His military reputation is not excelled by any 
officer of his age in the service. He is intelligent, 
brave, chivalrous, and, perhaps, the best disciplinarian 



ARMY LIFE. 1 45 

in the army. Not one of yoMX fzissy old maids, who 
busies himself about trifles, and allows matters of im- 
portance to pass uncared for ; but is minutely exact 
in great things, and lets trifles take care of themselves. 
Has the reputation of being a Martinet ; and yet there 
never was, perhaps, an officer more sincerely beloved 
and respected by his subordinates. He has charmingly 
pleasant manners. When conversing upon any sub- 
ject of real interest to himself the expression of his 
countenance is truly magnetic ; his bright eyes are 
almost dazzlinof. 

On starting for Fort Washita, I left at my quarters, 
a Mr. Hinckly, late editor of the Chickasaw Intelli- 
gencer, who had been a guest of the post for several 
days. A perfect stranger to the most of us. He evi- 
dently came here with the view of addressing a young 
lady resident of the garrison whom he had seen at 
Fort Washita. From the first, I observed that he was 
71071 co7npos me7zlis ; but was in hopes that his visit 
would be short, and that he miorht therefore not com- 
promise himself in any way. After being here a few 
days, however, he deemed it expedient to remind the 
young lady of an alleged promise of friendship that she 
had formerly made him. She totally ignored it ; and 
thus his fondest hopes. were crushed. His mental ex- 
citement grew worse from this time, and when I left 
on the third instant, his mind was a complete wreck. 
Professional secrecy was then not only useless, but 
highly dangerous. I therefore informed the members 
of the garrison of his condition, and left proper direc- 
tions with the hospital steward for his treatment until 
the arrival of Dr. Stone. On my return I was pained 



146 yori^X.-tL OF 

to learn that the poor fellow alternated from bad to 
worse until 4 r. m., of the loth of this month, when he 
put an end to his existence by stabbino- himself nine 
times over the region of the heart; whilst two men 
were in attendance upon, and one of them reading to 
him. 

He at hrst attempted suicide with a pistol, which 
snapped, and was taken from him by the attendants. 
He had been divested of the knife and pistol on the 
eve of his first serious illness ; but he succeeded in 
getting- them from the hospital steward on the night of 
the suicide, by telling him that he anticipated leaving 
for Fort Washita early in the morning. He did, in 
fact, hire a nian to go with him — declining to accom- 
pany Dr. Stone, who intended to start on the same 
day. 

October 2Cth, iSp4. — To-day we had a review and 
inspection of troops by the Acting Inspector-General, 
Brevet-Major F. N. Page, who arrived last night. 

Ncz'tf^iber "jth, 183-1' — Have just received news that 
Dr. Thomas H. Williams is to relieve me at this post; 
when I am to proceed to Baltimore, to await instruc- 
tions from the War Department. This is evidently a 
preliminary to a leave of absence, for which I shall ap- 
pK" on my arrival at that place. 

I shall reach home about Christmas. Oh, how the 
prospect of seeing my old dear parents, brothers and 
sisters once more, gladdens my heart. The scenes of 
my youth rise up before me. How delightful the retro- 
spective. I behold, in imagination, tlie native valleys 



ARMY LIFE. 147 

and streams over which I roamed in all the buoyancy 
of youth: 

In childhood's merry hours I used to roam, 

As free as birds which flew around my home, 

And built their nests in boughs of sycamore, 

In beauty spread o'er stream of Linganore. 

Though calmer now are manhood's colder joys, 

Yet give me back awhile my boyhood toys; 

My rod, my little boat, my tiny gun, 

My pony bay, which lov'd so well the fun 

To amble o'er the roads in nimble tread, 

Or mountain trail his course less swift to thread. 

Those joyous days, when rising with the sun, 

I helter-skelter through the woods did run. 

To shoot a rabbit, robin, or a quail; 

Or on the pond my little bark did sail. 

Such glee, such joy, doth come but once in life, 

Then graver grow our hopes, our fears, our strife. 



148 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XII. 

ORDERED TO BALTIMORE TRIP THITHER. 

Perryvile, Choctaw Nation, Nov. 24th, 1854. 

Left Fort Arbuckle on last Tuesday for Baltimore, 
in company with Captain J. H. Strain, the post sutler, 
Doctor Williams having arrived on the Saturday pre- 
vious. The doctor and I being natives of the same 
State, and graduates of the same institution, were mu- 
tually pleased to meet each other. Although rejoiced 
at the prospect of revisiting my native place, yet as 
the time of my departure drew near, my heart sad- 
dened at the approaching separation from old friends. 

There is no society so closely bound together by all 
the mutual ties of association as that of the military 
brotherhood at a frontier post. Aside from the con- 
geniality of education and tastes, the almost perfect 
isolation from the outside world deepens, in a high 
degree, the friendship of its members toward each 
other. We were accompanied a short distance on our 
way by several of our most intimate friends. The 
trip, so far, has been pleasant. 

We are traveling in a Government ambulance, our 
baggage being in one of the wagons of an empty train 
returnmg to Fort Smith. So far we ha\'e all encamp- 
ed together at night. The teamsters generally being 
discharged soldiers, it is really amusing to hear them 
relate to each other, around the camp-fire, the many 
little incidents connected with their army life. 



ARMY LIFE. 1 49 

There is one from Fort Arbuckle, who, although a 
little careful of what he says in my hearing, yet know- 
inof that he is no lono-er a Soldier, and that I am leav- 
ing the country, solves many little matters relating to 
the post which have always been a mystery to its offi- 
cers — particularly as it regards the introduction of 
liquors into the garrison. 

This secret, no man, while a private soldier, will di- 
vulge. On the contrary, he considers it a matter of 
principle to deceive his commander upon this point, 
no matter how faithful he may otherwise be. Intoxi- 
cating spirits are usually brought in the neighborhood 
of the post by civilians, and secreted for a few days ; 
when they are clandestinely sold to the soldiers at ex- 
orbitant prices. It is a risky business, however. For, 
independent of the men, when short of funds, seizing 
and appropriating to their own use the whole quantity, 
the dealers, if caught by the proper authorities, are 
sure to suffer the penalty of the law. 

A train of emigrants, bound for Texas, is encamped 
alonof side of us to-nig-ht. Many return after eoino- 
there and finding that "distance lends enchantment to 
the view;" and that that country is inferior in some 
respects to the one left behind. On meeting these 
roving pioneers of the west it is generally easy to 
tell from what State they hail by the provincialisms 
made use of by them in conversation.^ If from Mis- 
souri, he raised "a smart chance of corn" — if from 
Arkansas, or Texas, "a power of cotton," or '' smart 
chance of corn;" if from the Old Dominion, 'T reckon 
I raised a mighty heap of tobacco last season;" "boys 
are peart;" "don't you think, Doc, ague makes a 



150 JOURNAL OF 

fellow powerful weak?" Occasionally one recognizes 
Jonathan from such expressions as ''down East;" 
"By gosh, this 'ere is the b'iggest clearin' I ever see;" 
" I expect we hadn' ought to raise nothin' but wheat 
and rye here;" '' I guess you've come arter land, ha'nt 
you?" 

Szinday, November 26th, 1854- — Sixth day out; de- 
lightful trip so far. Nothing to mar our pleasure ex- 
cept the stampede of all our mules last night. Arriv- 
ing in camp late they were, as usual, turned loose to 
graze until the teamsters could strike a fire. Leaving 
one man to guard the wagons, the rest of us started 
out in different directions to hunt the renegades ; and 
succeeded about 10 p. m. in finding all but four. Mr. 
Sadler, the wagon master, and three teamsters are 
still absent in pursuit of them. 

Came near breaking the Sabbath this morning by 
shooting at a large covey of quail which approached 
within gunshot of the camp, but suddenly recollect- 
ino- that it was the Lord's day, resisted the temptation. 
I have ever held, and hope to be able ever to hold, the 
Sabbath sacred. 

My hands are so chilled by the cool air that I can 
hardly write. But the wind is most refreshing. Oh, 
you weak and puny denizens of brick and mortar, 
could you breathe for a while, as we do, this health- 
inspiring breeze, it would give a new zest to your ex- 
istence. Some of the scenery passed through yester- 
day was beautiful and picturesque — especially the 
broad and level, prairies, interspersed occasionally 
with small groves of timber. On comparing my en- 



AJ?3IY LIFE. 151 

thusiasm when first beholding these immense western 
meadows, a few years ago, and my present apathy 
upon the subject, I am forcibly reminded how soon the 
most lovely things of life lose their charms when seen 
too often. 

Fort Smith, Arkansas, November 29th, 1854. 

Arrived here yesterday, a distance of 195 miles 
from Fort Arbuckle. Find the place greatly improved 
since I passed this way in 1850; although everything 
is at present at a stand-still for the want of I'argent. 
Judging from newspaper accounts, the distress must 
be general throughout the union. 

Little Rock, Arkansas, December 6th, 1854. 

After enjoying ourselves a few days at Fort Smith, 
we — Captain J. H. Strain, Mr. Humes and myself — 
left in a carriage, on the third instant, for this place, 
where we arrived to-day ; the distance being 1 75 miles. 
We traveled mostly on the opposite side of the Ar- 
kansas River to what I did on my advent into this 
country ; over a much better road, and in a far superior 
conveyance. No more public staging for me when I 
can conveniently hire, a carriage. The soil along our 
route is one of the least productive we have yet 
seen in this country; the principal productions being 
cotton, corn and peaches ; very large orchards of the 
latter. Only one or two apple orchards — it being 
impossible to raise good apples in this part of Arkansas. 
They appear to rot, or dry up^ on the trees before 
maturity. The inhabitants generally are very poor 
and unthrifty. 



152 JOURNAL OF 

On the second day from Fort Smith we passed an 
immense perpendicular bluff, three hundred feet in 
height, called the Dardanelles. According to tradi- 
tion, some twelve )-ears ago an Indian committed 
murder, and being closely pursued to the brink of this 
precipice^ leaped over it, and was, of course, mashed 
to a jelly. 

On the third night we stopped at Louisburgh, a 
very small country village. Mabie's menagerie had 
exhibited during the afternoon, and the place was 
crowded with drunken, quarrelsome people, who kept 
up continual rows all night; preventing us from enjoy- 
ing ourselves on the soft side of a plank — or the floor 
of the tavern. The following are some of the princi- 
pal trees observed along our route from Fort Arbuckle 
to this city: In the Choctaw nation — black, post and 
red oak, hickory, pecan, sycamore, blackjack, sweet- 
gum, over-cup, cottonwood. In Arkansas, the same, 
together with birch, honey-locust, cy^Drus, black and 
white pine. 

At the house where we lodged last nicrht we saw for 
the first time a young lady "dipping" — not her lovely 
person under water, that would have been commenda- 
ble — but a stick into a snuff-bottle, and then, oh hor- 
rors ! into her pretty mouth. This disgusting habit is 
said to be common in all classes of Arkansas society. 
• 

Deceinber gtk, 1S54. — We are now gliding down 
White river on thft Thomas P. Rea, having left Little 
Rock early yesterday morning in the stage for Aber- 
deen — where we took passage on board this vessel. 
The distance between the two points is sixty miles ; 



ARMY LIFE. 



15, 



over the loveliest road I have seen, through a perfectly- 
smooth and level prairie. There were sixteen passen- 
gers — nine within, and seven without. We made sev- 
eral very pleasant acquaintances — among others J. 
Knox Walker, President Polk's private secretary. 
We are bound for Napoleon, a distance of one hun- 
dred and seventy-five miles. White River is narrow 
and deep, and affords much better navigation than the 
Arkansas. The land on its borders is the most pro- 
ductive in the State; but is subject to frequent over- 
flows. 

St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans, Dec. 19th, 1854. 

We arrived here on the thirteenth instant, having 
left Napoleon December 9th, on the steamboat I. P. 
Leathers, Captain Bennet. The Mississippi is very 
low at this season of the year — thus preventing as fine 
a view of the country on either side of the river as is 
obtained when the water is higher. We stopped at 
various points along the route to take in freight — 
mostly cotton. 

In passing Vicksburg we were reminded of the 
notoriety it gained several years ago for lynching a 
band of gamblers, whom, having become so numerous 
as to defy the authorities, some of the most influential 
citizens, warned to leave within a given time, or they 
would be punished. Not heeding the warning, the 
ringleaders were taken to a neighboring hill and hung. 
The town was not infested with this class of men for 
some time thereafter. The trees lining- the banks of 
the Mississippi from Vicksburg to New Orleans are 
covered with a kind of moss, much in use at present 



154 JOURNAL OF 

instead of hair in stuffing mattresses — a poor substi- 
tute, however. 

The next most notable place to Vicksburg- that we 
passed was Natchez; which takes its name from a 
tribe of Indians that once inhabited that section of the 
Mississippi. The French, who owned the country at 
the time, had much trouble with them between the 
years of 1720 and 1732; and on one occasion treated 
them very treacherously by forming a treaty of friend- 
ship, while secretly raising large forces to crush them; 
but only partially succeeded in their scheme. A few 
years subsequently the French Commandant selected 
one of their most flourishino- villaofes as a site for a 
fort. The Indians, having been so cruelly and harshly 
dealt with, determined on revenge. 

With this object in view, they promised the French 
Commander, that if he would permit them to remain 
at their old home until harvest, every one of them 
would present him with a fowl and a lot of corn. He 
granted their request. At the appointed time all the 
men of the tribes entered the fortification; and at a 
preconcerted signal, fell upon the unsuspecting garri- 
son, and massacred every living soul. 

The Governor immediately sent against them a 
large force of French and friendly Indians, who killed 
nearly the whole tribe. About four hundred of the 
survivors were taken prisoners, and sold in bondage; 
while the remainder were disseminated among other 
tribes. Each side of the Mississippi, from Napoleon 
down, is lined with cotton plantations until within 
about ninety miles of New Orleans, when the great 
sugar plantations are seen instead. A proper cultiva- 



AJ?My LIFE. 155 

tion of the latter requires a much larger capital than 
the former. On the last day of our trip we passed a 
kind of horse-shoe bend in the river, which is twenty- 
eight miles around, and only half a mile through what is 
called the cut-off. The latter is used only in very high 
water. We have been delayed in New Orleans await- 
ing the departure of the steamship Empire City for 
New York. 

So completely does a few years isolation from gen- 
eral society change our natural susceptibilities, that 
although we have been here a week the novelty and 
strangeness of city life impress us almost as much as 
though we had been reared on the great western 
plains, and were now paying our respects for the first 
time to this great emporium of the Southwest. 

We have not been idle at siofht-seeinof since our 
arrival, but have visited almost every place worthy of 
inspection. It would be needlessly tedious to attempt 
a description of the various novelties that attracted our 
verdant attention. We saw for the first time, at the 
museum, wax statuary of the crowned heads of Europe, 
and of our own great American statesmen. The most 
interesting were the death-bed scenes of Webster and 
Calhoun; and the figures of Queen Victoria, Emper- 
ors Nicholas of Russia and Napoleon of France. We 
saw the unfinished Custom-house, which, when com- 
pleted, will be the largest building of the kind in the 
Union. The walls are of granite from Maine. The 
architect has made a orreat mistake in erectinor the 
arches supporting the brick floors too flat, considering 
that the building is not on a very firm foundation. 
In fact, numerous cracks are already visible in them, 



156 JOURNAL OF 

caused by the settling of the walls of the main struct- 
ure. 

One of the most beautiful sights of the city is its 
shipping; the harbor being full of all sizes and sorts of 
vessels from every part of the commercial world. We 
visited the French cemetery, located in the town. 
The vaults are all above ground, owing to the damp- 
ness of the earth; the city level, or grade, being three 
and a half feet below high water mark in the Missis- 
sippi river. Were it not for the levee extending along 
the river about one hundred miles, and varying from 
six to thirty-two feet in height, New Orleans and the 
surrounding country, would be inundated almost every 
year by the Mississippi, The embankment in front of 
the city is projected for some distance into the river 
by a series of wooden wharves. 

During the hottest parts of summer the population 
of New Orleans is greatly reduced, by almost every- 
body who can spare the time and money, leaving for 
some more healthy climate, as the yellow fever is 
prevalent here every season, although epidemic only 
about every five years. In the winter, however, the 
city is full to overflowing with many thousands of 
stranorers, and other new comers — constitutinof a float- 
ing population almost equal to the number of perma- 
nent citizens. It is at this time of the year, too, that 
the rich cotton and sugar planters come to town, to 
negotiate the sale of their products and spend the 
proceeds in luxurious living. 

I have spent the most of my time in attending medi- 
cal lectures at the University of Louisiana, and in 
examinations of the many curious pathological and 



ARMY LIFE. I 5 7 

anatomical specimens at the museum connected with 
the college; and in visiting the Charity Hospital — an 
immense structure, occupying a whole square, and 
capable of accommodating over a thousand patients. I 
also had the pleasure of hearing the renowned Surgeon 
Stone lecture, and of seeing him perform several sur- 
gical operations. He is a poor lecturer; but a bold 
and fearless operator. 

On Sunday morning we heard the celebrated Mr. 
Clapp deliver a truly eloquent discourse. The church 
was full, but many of the audience seemed to listen to 
the burning words of the great preacher in a listless, 
sleepful manner, most surprising to us who have been 
so long deprived of the glorious privilege of hearing 
the gospel of our Lord preached in any manner, much 
less by the tongue of eloquence. On Sunday even- 
ing we had another intellectual and religious treat at 
the anniversary of the Southern Bible Society. One 
of the speakers, the Rev. Mr, Walker^ was grandly 
eloquent. To-morrow morning we shall take our de- 
parture for New York. 

In bidding adieu to the Valley of the Mississippi I 
feel how impossible it is for the finite mind to contem- 
plate with a realizing sense of their grandeur the 
mighty works of the Creator, even after they are 
brought under general review. In contemplating the 
vastness of this great central valley of the North 
American Continent — extending as it does from the 
Alleghany mountains on the east, to the Rocky mount- 
ains on the west; from the Gulf of Mexico on the 
south, to the chain of lakes on the north; and consid- 
ering the size of the mighty rivers — especially the 



158 JOURNAL OF 

Mississippi — the great father of waters, one is almost 
appalled at the sublimity of the future greatness of this 
nursery of American liberty. 

However diverse its population may appear at pres- 
ent in mannerS; prejudices and modes of speech cor- 
responding to the countries from which they have 
come, the time is not distant when all incongruities 
must harmonize into one grand central whole — produc- 
ing the true type of the American, with views as lofty 
as the mountain barriers to the east and west, and as 
broad and expansive as the great valley itself. 

There are over twenty thousand miles of water navi- 
gation in this extensive area of the richest agricultural 
lands in the world. In conjunction with this it can 
only be a few years when this entire extent of country 
will be bound together, as it is now in part, by iron 
rails, over which will rush with almost lightning speed 
thousands of iron horses with lungs of fire, and breath 
of steam, catering to the need and comfort of a hun- 
dred millions of American freemen. 

New York, December 28th, 1854. 

Taking our departure from New Orleans on the 
twentieth in the steamship Empire City, we reached 
here this morning. Whilst waiting for the train, which 
starts for Baltimore at one p. m., I shall jot down a 
few of the incidents of our trip. 

Not being ill for so many years, I had almost begun 
to think that my good fortune in this respect might 
attend me on the ocean as well as ashore. A most 
cruel deception. Although not the first, yet I was 
not the last, to come under the influence of sea- 



AJ?3fV LIFE. 



i59 



sickness. Almost every one who goes to sea has 
some new specific to suggest for the prevention and 
alleviation of this disagreeable malady. Although 
much relief can be obtained by following the advice 
of skillful and experienced physicians, who depend on 
no special remedies, but treat each case according to 
the s3^mptoms developed, yet the unfortunate sufferers 
must not expect too much from medical science; as 
the discovery of a true specific has yet to be made. 

We reached Havana, a distance of 620 miles from 
New Orleans at five p.m. on the twenty -second, just be 
fore the firing of the sun-down gun from Moro Castle. 
This was fortunate, as no foreign vessels are permitted to 
go in,or out of, the harbor between sunset and sunrise. 
As the Aspinwall steamer, with which ours connected, 
did not arrive until three p. m. on the following day, we 
had a splendid opportunity to see the city. We went 
ashore on the evening of our arrival in time to visit 
the opera at the Tacon theatre; which for size and 
grandeur is said to be excelled by only two structures 
of the kind in the world. It has five tiers of seats — 
three -of which are dress circles — also an immense par- 
quet. My fine of)era glass, purchased at New Orleans, 
enabled me to scan with orood effect the immense and 

o 

brilliantly attired audience. The most noticeable 
feature on entering the building was the large military 
guard in front. 

Havana is full of soldiers — the majority of the 1 7,000 
garrisoning the Island of Cuba being stationed in and 
around the city. It is a very pretty sight to see them 
"mounting guard" with three hundred men; and 
grander still to witness them drill in squads of sev- 



l6o JOURNAL OF 

eral thousands. Between the hours of eight and 
nine p. m. a mihtary band discourses most dehghtful 
music in the Governor's square. 

An American is struck on entering Havana with its 
narrow streets — like our alleys — its low houses cov- 
ered with curved tiles, the convex and concave sides 
alternating so as to form a series of parallel grooves 
running from the ridge to the eaves of the roof. The 
windows are destitute of glass; but have instead a 
bowed iron grating — giving to the houses the appear- 
ance of prisons. All the hotels and public buildings 
have carriage houses, and horse stables, in the base- 
ments. Although kept perfectly clean, they give rise 
in warm weather to disagreeable odors. 

The most general way of traveling in Havana is in 
a volante; a two-wheeled vehicle; resembling a heavy 
kind of chaise or gig — the tires of which are wrapped 
with leather to prevent noise. The horse is not 
driven, but ridden by a fellow in enormous boots and 
spurs. Almost every horse to be seen has his tail 
tied to one side — probably a mere fancy. Green 
corn, stalk and all, is the principal provender for 
horses. It is grown the whole year round — and, in 
truth, so is every other vegetable production in this 
climate, where frost is never seen. 

On the day of our visit the thermometor stood at 
seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit in the shade — of 
course we enjoyed ice creams, iced lemonades, etc., as 
well as delicious tropical fruits. The shade trees 
around the city are charmingly beautiful, being princi- 
pally palm and linden. The most beautiful trees and 
shrubbery are to be seen in the Bishop's garden, a 



A/?A/V LIFE. 1 6 1 

mile out of the city. There are to be found the palm, 
the cocoa-nut, bamboo, sweet and bitter orange, lemon, 
mango, bread-tree, gourd- tree — together with hundreds 
of other varieties of lovely trees and shrubs. 

Havana possesses one of the finest harbors in the 
world — the entrance of which is guarded by the re- 
nowned Moro Castle. This has for its foundation an 
immense rock, jutting out into the sea. Bold and 
formidable indeed must be the naval power that would 
attempt a forcible entrance into this harbor, when old 
Moro belches forth its thunders. 

We left Havana on the twenty-third instant in quite 
a storm, which did not lull until Christmas; when we 
all made our appearance at a most magnificent dinner 
given in honor of the day by the captain. On our 
way we saw, for the first time, some of those dull, 
stupid aquatic birds called boobies. Last night the 
fog was so dense that the captain feared he would 
have to stop the steamer until it cleared up, as the 
cloudy weather had prevented an observation for 
forty hours, and he was not quite sure of his course. 
Still he kept on, and fortunately steered as direct to 
the channel in the narrows as though the sky had 
been clear. The surgeon declares that Captain Wen- 
dall can smell his way, as he has frequently accom- 
plished the same feat before with his vessel when be- 
fogged. 

I hope I will be able to spend a few weeks in this 
great city during the present winter, but must now 
hurry on to Baltimore, and report by letter to the 
Surgeon-General, and ask for a short leave of absence. 



1 6:? JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XIII. 

HOW I SPENT -MY THREE MONTHS LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 

Fort Wood, Bedloe's Island, \ 

New York Harbor, April 19th, 1855. j 

CAPTAIN J. W. T. Gardiner and myself antici- 
pate taking our departure to-morrow in the 
steamship IlHnois with a detachment of recruits for 
the department of the Pacific. 

Ahhough my experience during the last few months 
has been that of hundreds of others, yet as I may 
some day desire to recall what now seems to me 
trifling events, a brief summary of how my three 
months leave of absence, granted me by the Secre- 
tary of War, on my. reporting by letter from Baltimore 
on the twenty-ninth of last December, has been spent 
may prove of future interest. Of course the first 
thing done was to visit my old home at Linganore, 
Maryland. The joyful greetings of my dear relatives, 
and boyhood friends, need no record on paper, as 
they are indelibly fixed on the page of memory. 

An absence of five years from home marks many 
changes. Little boys and girls have grown up to be 
young maidens and men. The sweet seventeens 
whom I met at my former visit have changed into 
sedate married women; or quiet, pensive young 
ladies, who have ceased to celebrate their birthdays. 
Some of my old friends have been laid beneath the 
cold sod, as a sad warning to those of us left behind. 



ARMY LIFE. 1 63 

'Tis sineular how the little incidents of childhood are 
recalled to the mind in revisiting the haunts of early 
life; and how different a retrospective view is from 
the vivid pictures first engraved on the young mind. 
How small and insignificant appear many things now, 
which once seemed sublimely grand to my inexperi- 
enced observations. For instance, the mill pond near 
my father's farm always looked to my boyhood sight 
as wonderfully deep and large. On seeing it last Jan- 
uary, just after a voyage on the ocean, it was difficult 
to realize that it was the same old dam in which I used 
to fish, swim and sail in summer; or glide over on 
skates in midwinter. 

After revisiting my home again in March to say 
farewell, the pond seemed larger than it did in Janu- 
ary, but not of the gigantic dimensions presented to 
my youthful eyes. We are always judging by com- 
parison, and can only acquire liberal and expansive 
views of things by traveling over some other country 
besides our own native hills. My hotel life at the St. 
Nicholas, in New York, at Barnum's, in Baltimore, 
and Willard's, at Washington, during my temporary 
sojourn at these places, seemed at first grand and 
magnificent; but a few weeks of such life made things 
decidedly more commonplace. Could I, however, 
have been suddenly transported from either of these 
luxurious hotels to the miserably rough and uncouth 
log cabins at Fort Arbuckle, the change would have 
been unbearable. Yet these same log quarters once 
seemed to me like palaces for comfort when compared 
with the cold and unprotected tents, which for a long 
time formed our only shelter on the plains. 



164 JOURNAL OF 

So now, after luxuriating like a prince for three 
months on my little savings of the past five years, I 
must gradually come down to backwoods-life again. 
Such are the extremes of an officer's career. But 
although " dressing in fine linen and faring sumptu- 
ously every day" during my short leave of absence, I 
have not been idle. For knowing that such an oppor- 
tunity to brush up in my profession might not occur 
again for years, I have really devoted three fourths of 
my time in visiting the Baltimore, Philadelphia and New 
York medical colleges and hospitals, and have wit- 
nessed, and in some cases assisted, clinical operations 
in surgery by several of the most eminent surgeons in 
the United States. Such privileges have really given 
me more intense satisfaction than all the gay festivities 
to which I have had the entree during the present 
winter. 

At Baltimore, for instance, I saw my old professor, 
Nathan R. Smith, perform a few brilliant operations. 
At Philadelphia, Doctors Pancoast and Mutter held 
forth as of old; and in the city of New York I wit- 
nessed many capital operations at the City Hospital 
and Bellevue. But was more pleased at the opportu- 
nity of seeing an amputation by that most distinguish- 
ed of all American surgeons, Valentine Mott. In the 
latter city the principal hospitals are too far off from 
the medical colleges for the students to properly avail 
themselves of clinical or practical medicine and surgery. 
This ought to be remedied by the establishment of 
medical schools in closer proximity to the hospitals. 
The University of Maryland, where I graduated, has a 
great advantage in this respect, as its infirmary is just 



ARMY LIFE. 1 65 

across the street from the college building, and the 
students are permitted to hear and assist in daily- 
clinics. 

After a short visit to my Maryland friends I started 
to see my relations residing in the western part of the 
State of New York. Of course I availed myself of 
this opportunity of making a better acquaintance with 
the city of New York, which I reached on the tenth of 
January. Finding the St. Nicholas Hotel crowded, I 
was compelled to accept a room so high up toward the 
clouds that the rarification of the air almost made my 
head ache; but was accommodated with lodging lower 
down on the following day. Being, however, so near 
the attic at first, I concluded to go still higher, and get 
on the roof itself, in order to gain a bird's eye view of 
the great city and its surroundings. The sight fully 
repaid me for the trouble. 

Mario and Grisi being the musical lions of the city, 
I availed myself of the first opportunity of hearing 
them, and getting a glimpse of Miss Coutts — the 
wealthy English lady accompanying them. I did not 
pay as much for a reserved seat as she is in the habit 
of paying — $800. 

Barnum's Museum attracted a good deal of my atten- 
tion. There, as at New Orleans, wax statuary ap- 
peared to have a prominent place. In addition to the 
specimens in this line seen in the latter city were the giant 
and giantess, Mr. and Mrs. Hale; Daniel Lambert, the 
fat man; and Calvin Edson, the living skeleton. The 
prince of humbugs, as he is called, deserves a great 
deal of credit for the wonderful collection of natural 
curiosities on exhibition at his buildino-. A bare enu- 

o 



I 66 JOURNAL OF 

meration of the most interesting of which would be 
tedious and useless. The following dried specimens 
seemed to attract the most attention: A huge snap- 
ping turtle, obtained out of a solid rock in the State of 
New York; a rhinoceros harebill; a red flamingo; 
giant sun-fish; and Fejee mermaid. The last looks 
like a woman and fish combined — having the face and 
thorax of the former; and the abdomen and lower ex- 
tremities of the latter. It is bogus of course — being 
an artificial preparation, manufactured so skillfully as 
as to deceive for a long time the public generally. 

There was also on exhibition the Maine Giantess, 
thirty years old, weighing six hundred pounds; the 
female dwarf, aged eighteen, and only seventeen 
inches in height; also a giraffe. Barnum had two of 
these animals until lately — one being drowned at New 
Orleans whilst being put aboard a vessel for New York. 
"The happy family" of birds and animals together in 
a cage; and a fac simile of the great Portugal dia- 
mond — the original being valued at $29,625,200; 
attracted much attention. 

Went to Grace Church on the Sunday after my 
arrival in the city. Couldn't help drawing a mental 
comparison between the fashionably-dressed audience 
there, and the first religious congregation I saw in Ar- 
kansas on reaching the frontier last autumn; but relig- 
ion is the same, whether robed in royal purple or 
pauper's rags. 

Remained in New York five days; and then took 
the cars for Cold Spring; where I left my baggage 
and crossed the Hudson on the ice for West Point; 
came within an ace of being drowned. Before ventur- 



ARMY LIFE. 1 67 

ing on the ice, I inquired whether there was any other 
method of reachinof West Point that evening? Was 
assured in the negative, and cautioned not to attempt 
crossinof until the followinof morninof; as no one had 
yet dared to trust the ice. 

It being part of my programme to reach the Acad- 
emy that evening, I resolved to examine the ice myself. 
Near the shore it appeared sufficiently strong to bear 
most any one. So taking a pole in my hand, I deter- 
mined upon the venture, and got along smoothly until 
near the channel, when numerous unfrozen places ren- 
dered my progress slower. On coming to ice present- 
ing a doubtful appearance I would try its strength by a 
blow of my stick. In this manner I had nearly crossed 
the most dangerous part of the river, and began to 
grow more careless, when suddenly a piece of ice, on 
which I was standing, detached itself from the main 
body, and began to float down an unfrozen portion of 
the stream; barely affording me time to spring back 
out of danger. Although badly frightened, I changed 
my course higher up the river, and succeeded in cross- 
ing over just as darkness set in. 

At the Point I was the guest of Lieutenant Thomas 
H, Niell, of the Fifth Infantry; Assistant Prof, of draw- 
ing at the Academy. The young officers here all 
mess together dressed in uniform; and by their martial 
appearance, and animated discussions, present a strik- 
ingly gay picture. The annual examination is going on; 
I had the pleasure of seeing some of the cadets exam- 
ined. It would be superflous to give a description of 
this well known national military school. 

There are just outside of the garrison two splendid 



1 68 JOURNAL OF 

hotels, which, though empty in winter, are thronored 
with fashionable visitors in summer from all parts of 
the Union. The country surrounding West Point is 
picturesque and romantic. The following night I 
spent in Albany at the Delavan House. A peculiar 
feature of this hotel is white female waiters, under the 
superintendence of a mulatto steward. A good snow 
having fallen during the day the streets were merry 
with the jingle of sleigh-bells. 

On Wednesday night I arrived in Buffalo. Here I 
met Lieutenant Mathew R. Stevenson of the Seventh 
Infantry, formerly of Fort Arbuckle, and now in the 
recruiting service; and received through him an invi- 
tation to a select dancing party given by the bachelors 
of the American Hotel; I enjoyed myself greatly. 
Next morning met brother Tom's law partner, Mr. 
George Barker, who kindly telegraphed to the former 
to meet me at the Dunkirk depot. 

On my arrival at the latter place found Thomas 
waiting with his cutter and three-minute horse. My 
first sleigh ride in eight years. Just before getting into 
the sleigh, I slipped and fell on a strip of smooth ice 
with so much force as to almost break my cranium. 
There are several fine plank roads intersecting at Fre- 
donia, where my brother resides, affording, when 
covered with snow, the finest sleighing it has ever 
been my lot to enjoy. 

People living south of Mason and Dixon's line can 
have no idea of the rare sport afforded the denizens 
of the snowy North in winter, behind their fast trot- 
ting horses covered with jingling bells. Of course I 
visited the Niagara Falls — went thither in company 



ARMY LIFE. 1 69 

with Mr. Barker and my brother. It was night when 
we arrived at the suspension bridge. Crossing to the 
Canada side, with the intention of taking lodgings at 
the CHfton House, we were informed that it was closed 
for the season; thus cutting us off from a night's view 
of the Falls, which is considered as wonderfully grand. 
Recrossing the bridge, a comfortable night's lodging 
was afforded us at the hotel of Colonel Cook. 

The first object that attracted our attention in the 
morning was the suspension bridge, a stupendous struc- 
ture, made both for foot and carriage passengers. A 
double railroad track is being constructed over head. 
Two immense stone towers at each end form abut- 
ments for the bridge. Over these are suspended the 
wire cables, which support the latter, though it is 
immediately held up by means of large wire ropes, 
dropping perpendicularly from the cables. The latter 
are fixed by having their ends run through massive 
rocks, and wedged. 

From the bridge the view of the Niagara river, as it 
comes rolling, roaring, and foaming beneath us, is sub- 
lime in the extreme. It is a beautiful but fearful siofht. 
A short distance below the brido-e the river turns at a 
right angle — its waters are thus set whirling round and 
round, forming what is known as the whirlpool. Bod- 
ies floating down the river are here made to revolve 
in a circle for days ere they are permitted to go 
further. 

We next started for the American Falls, three miles 
from the bridge. In crossing over to Goat Island we 
were shown the spot of one of the most painfully excit- 
ing scenes recorded in history — the log to which a 



I^O JOURNAL OF 

man caught, on being washed down the rapids, and 
where he remained for twenty-four hours, notwith- 
standing the exertions of thousands of spectators to 
render him assistance. Finally a raft was floated by 
means of guiding ropes within a few feet of him. Be- 
ing utterly exhausted in his efforts to spring upon it, 
he missed his hold and was hurled headlong over the 
roaring cataract below, making a last heart-rending 
scream as the brink of the Falls was reached. 

We registered our names at the house half way 
across the rapids, and were soon on Goat Island. 
This forms a beautiful promenade in summer, when its 
trees are covered with foliage, instead of sleet and ici- 
cles, as at present. We were now within one hundred 
and fifty yards of the edge of the cataract. This space 
passed and the grand view lay at our feet. Yet we 
linorered. 

"We always," says a beautiful writer, "pause before 
any great experience, which is the highest of its kind 
we can ever know. We tremble to clutch a pleasure 
beyond which there can be no other, when it is fairly 
within our grasp. We dally with our own feelings in 
order to prolong the thrill which precedes the supreme 
moment, which once known can never be experienced 
ao-ain." 

At last the magnificently sublime sight burst upon 
us. The American Falls were beneath us. It would 
be useless to attempt a description — which has been so 
often made. We next visited the Horse-shoe Falls 
on the Canada side, a grander and more sublime sight 
than the other. We were not disappointed. The 
splendid reality equaled all the eye could wish. At 



ARMY LIFE. 



171 



the American Falls we were shown the spot where a 
young lady, her affianced, and a little girl, were pleas- 
antly whiling away a bright summer's day, when the 
young man playfully taking the child in his arms gave 
her a toss as if to throw her into the rapids. She be- 
ing frightened, sprang out of his arms into the stream — 
he of course following in order to rescue her — and the 
swift current bore them both over the Falls into the 
fathomless watery abyss below. This sad event occur- 
ed about eighteen months ago. 

After being the guest of my brother for ten days, 
sister Eliza and I started for Maryland. The Great 
Central Railroad being much obstructed with snow, we 
took the cars at Dunkirk, on the New York and Erie 
road, for Elmira, a thriving town near the Pennsylva- 
nia line, situated on the Chemung, a branch of the 
Susquehanna river. There we left the New York and 
Erie railroad, and took the road leading to Philadel- 
phia. This runs through a highly romantic country — 
in fact crossing the Alleghany Mountains. 

Our lady passengers became very nervous as the 
train swept over high bridges and deep chasms. At 
the Quaker City we tarried a day, and visited some of 
the noble public buildings. Among others, Girard 
College and the Fairmount Water Works. The former 
institution was endowed, as is well known, by Stephen 
Girard. The requisite permit to enter is headed by an 
extract from the will of the endower, prohibiting all 
ministers of the gospel from being employed as instruc- 
tors in, or from even visiting this college. Children 
between the ag-es of six and twelve are received here. 

Besides the common branches of an English educa- 



172 JOURNAL OF 

tion, they are taught drawing, French, Spanish, and 
some of the higher branches of mathematics. The 
school now numbers about three hundred pupils. 
There are five buildings in all, constructed of marble. 
The center one is an immense structure, being sur- 
rounded by some forty-four marble columns, each 
nine feet in diameter and about thirty-five feet high. 

One has a magnificent view of the city and sur- 
rounding country from the roof of the building. After 
seeing my sister safely home and remaining a few days, 
I returned to Baltimore, to attend medical lectures, 
and witness operations at the University of Mary- 
land. On the eighteenth of February I made a visit 
to Washington City. After paying my respects to the 
Surgeon-General, Brigadier- General Thomas Lausen, 
and Adjutant-General Col. Samuel Cooper (as de- 
manded by army etiquette), I visited the Capitol. 
Heard several fine speeches in the Senate and House. 
The latter is a perfect bedlam for noise and confusion. 

Very few bills pass Congress on their merits alone. 
The great majority of those for depletion of the public 
treasury are got through by the influence of lobby-mem- 
bers — a set of agents hired by the parties interested 
in the passage of an act; who hang around the lobbies 
and drinking saloons at the Capitol, and by means of 
liquor, oysters, cigars, soft speeches, and sometimes 
money, influence the members of Congress either for 
or against certain bills which may be under considera- 
tion. Some of our legislators are the paid attorneys 
of private corporations. With few exceptions, the 
purest and ablest men in the country never go to 
Congress. We seem to be retrograding in this respect 



A/?MV LIFE. 



173 



from year to year. Some of the lobbyists are paid enor- 
mously; they charge both a real and contingent fee. 
The first being paid whether successful or not; the 
second only when success crowns their manipulations. 

After spending a few days in Washington, I again 
visited New York City, and devoted most of my time 
to a review of practical medicine and surgery at the 
clinics of New York and Bellevue Hospitals. On Sun- 
days I of course went to church. Heard the renowned 
Henry Ward Beecher several times. His church, in 
Brooklyn, is always crowded. This gentleman has a 
tall, commanding figure; rather handsome, expressive 
features, and dark hair. His voice is soft, clear, full 
and powerful; gestures easy, appropriate and natural. 
He draws largely on beautiful similes and metaphors, 
and illustrations from science and natural history. The 
beauty, simplicity and originality of his discourses in- 
struct and enchant his auditors. The choir, which is 
seated behind and above the pulpit, is very select. 
That which electrifies and impresses one the most^ is 
the congregational singing by over a thousand persons. 

During this visit to New York I went to see the 
Crystal Palace and the Croton Water Works; both 
stupendous and beautiful architectural productions. 
The former was erected three years ago as a place of 
exhibition for the various works of art in the civilized 
world. Most of the articles have either been sold or 
withdrawn. During the exhibition everything was 
examined by proper committees, and awards given 
according to their reports. 

The building occupies a whole square, and consists 
of a nave and four wings, the body being surmounted 



174 JOURNAL OF 

by a dome. It is two stories high. Its framework is 
hght, complex, but strong, and beautifully arranged. 
The sides of the building, and a large portion of the 
roof, are of glass. Of the few articles now on exhi- 
bition, perhaps the most interesting are the marble 
and bronze statuary and paintings. In the east wing 
is the immense bronze equestrian statue of Washing- 
ton; in the south wing is the bronze statue of Webster, 
standing on a pedestal; and in the north wing is the 
Amazon on horseback — being attacked by a tiger. Of 
the marble statuary, the most remarkable are Christ 
and his Twelve Apostles. There is also a marble 
representation of the principal heathen gods and gen- 
erals. The statues of Venus, Apollo, Paris and Cu- 
pid, are the beau-ideals of beauty and loveliness. 

One of the most remarkable paintings is the "Court 
of Death;" it is about fifteen by twenty feet. As 
almost everybody has seen this picture, I shall not at- 
tempt a description or criticism of it. The picture of 
Orphelia is life-like, and charmingly beautiful. New 
York is rarely blest with many bright sunny days in 
winter, or early spring, but when they do come, the 
fair sex turn out by thousands to shop on Broadway, 
or promenade on Fifth Avenue. A sight of so many 
beautiful creatures is more pleasing than that of all the 
paintings on exhibition in this great city. Were all 
those lovely beings as angelic as they seem, what a 
paradise our earth would be ! Man could not then be 
the wretched sinner that he often is. 

The times have been harder in New York this win- 
ter than for many previous years — many suspensions 
among the large mercantile and manufacturing estab- 



ARMY LIPE. 



175 



Ushments. The poor are thus being thrown out of 
employment by thousands, and are holding- large 
meetings in the park to hear exciting speeches from 
fanatical demagogues. Among other means of relief 
the City Council have established soup kitchens in vari- 
ous sections of the city, where the hungry poor may 
at least get something to prevent starvation. Calico 
parties have also been given for their benefit. The 
dresses worn on these occasions are subsequently given 
to the poor. 

The winter has been unusually severe all over the 
northwest. About the middle of January there was 
an exceedingly deep drift of snow, seventeen miles 
long, on the Mississippi and Chicago Railroad, in 
which were buried twelve trains of cars. In some 
instances the passengers were under the necessity of 
tearing up the seats and furniture for fuel, and appro- 
priating everything in the eating line found on board 
the freight cars. 

Left New York March 9th for Linganore, where I 
took a final leave of my relatives on the twenty-sixth 
of the same month. Tarrying awhile in Baltimore, I 
arrived at Willard's Hotel in Washington April 2d. 
Saw there several old army friends — among others 
Captain R. B. Marcy, who politely invited me to call 
and see his family when I should return to New York. 
Presented a collection of dried prairie- flowers to the 
Smithsonian Institute. Received in return from the 
Secretary, Professor Baird, a letter of thanks. Called 
on a few ladies. Was much pleased with Miss Nina 
Wood, daughter of the Assistant Surgeon-General, 
and granddaughter of ex-President Taylor. 



176 JOURNAL OF 

Sent my card to President Pierce — was honored 
with a few minutes' conversation. He looked care- 
worn and haggard. Not surprising — for if ever there 
was a slave to the public it is the President of the 
United States. He has not a moment that he can 
call his own. The mansion is beautiful on the out- 
side, but exceedingly plain within. The lord steward 
of the kennel in England resides in a much finer 
house, and receives a larger salary than our President. 
As the latter, however, has certain contingent ex- 
penses borne by the government, he can very well 
support the dignity of his office on $25,000 per 
annum. Went to the capitol; but as there were no 
interestine debates in either house, I took a stroll 
through the rotunda to see the paintings. Was 
charmed with Powel's master-piece — De Soto. Fer- 
dinand De Soto, the discoverer of the Mississippi, was 
one of the most remarkable men of his day. Gaining 
permission from the Emperor, Charles the V, he un- 
dertook the conquest of Florida in 1538 at his own 
expense. His command consisted of six hundred 
Spanish and Portuguese cavaliers. At the present 
site of Mobile he fought a sanguinary battle with the 
Indians. After traveling as far west as Arkansas, he 
attempted to descend to the Gulf of Mexico through 
the bayous and marshes along the banks of the Mis- 
sissippi river; but was attacked with a malignant fever, 
and died in April, 1542. There are, nowadays, few 
such venturesome spirits as the Spanish cavaliers of 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 

Made a visit to the Patent Office building. Besides 
the many specimens of American genius, this edifice 



ARMY LIFE. I 77 

contains the National Institute — embracing one of the 
finest collections of curiosities in the union. The 
United States Exploring Expeditions have furnished 
a large number of splendid contributions to this 
museum. Perhaps there are none more curious than 
the collection from the Fiji Islands. Fine speci- 
mens of crockery ware; of cloth manufactured from 
the inner bark oi trees; necklaces; bark fishing lines, 
with bone hooks; curious war clubs and bludgeons; 
a vast variety of corals — such as the cactus, fungus 
and rose corals — and, in fact, a coral representative of 
most of the floral kingdom. There are also to be seen 
here many stuffed fish and animals. The sea-horse 
and sea-lion attracting the larger share of attention 
from visitors. 

Receiving orders from the Secretary of War to 
report to the General-in-chief for duty with the first 
detachment of recruits bound for the department of 
the Pacific, I left Washington on the sixth of April 
for Baltimore. Took leave of my friends there and 
reached New York on the seventh — taking a room at 
the Astor House. Reporting to General Winfield Scott 
on the ninth of April, I received orders on the eleventh 
to report to the superintendent of the recruiting service 
for duty with the detachment of recruits which is to leave 
here to-morrow. On leaving the city for this place I 
was compelled, in consequence of a gale, to stop a 
day at Governor's Jsland, where I was the guest of 
Colonel John J. Abercrombie, of the Second Infantry. 
Saw there the families of Surgeon Samuel P. Moore, 
Lieutenant Holdeman and others. 

On the night of my arrival at this place — Fort 



178 JOURNAL OF 

Wood — I was walking along the dark hall of my 
quarters, and stumbled down the stone stair-way 
leading from the basement. The fall rendered me 
senseless for awhile, but through the kind exertions 
of Lieutenant H. G. Gibson, who heard the noise, I 
was soon restored to my senses again. The only 
officer's lady at this fort is Mrs. Captain Gardiner, 
who will accompany her husband to the Pacific. Mrs. 
Major Ben. Alvord also anticipates going with us to 
join her husband at Fort Vancouver, Washington 
Territory. 



AI^Mi' LIFE. 



179 



CHAPTER XIV. 



VOYAGE TO SAN FRANCISCO. 



Sea Voyage to California — Bogus Governor — Small Pox — Railroad Scare — 
Wreck of the Golden Gate — Yerb Prescription for Cholera worth $1000. 

Steamship Illinois, April 25th, 1855. 

LEFT Warren Street wharf yesterday at two p. m. 
with a stiff breeze from the north-east. Vessel 
crowded; seven hundred and fifty passengers exclu- 
sive of ship's crew. Aft there is an upper and lower 
cabin — forward an upper and lower steerage. The 
troops occupy the latter. Captain I. W. T. Gardiner, 
First Dragoons, Captain T. J. Craw, Top. Engineers, 
and myself, are in the same stateroom. Mrs. Alvord 
and Gardiner have another. All in the first cabin of 
course. A large number of women and children 
on board — two or three very beautiful young ladies. 
But oh ! this seasickness. What a terrible drawback 
to a pretty woman. 'Tis death to all those acquired 
charms that render beauty so angelic. Why yesterday 
evening whilst old Neptune was producing his fiercest 
commotions (oceanic, and, per consequence, antiper- 
istaltic) a lady absolutely inquired of me the way to 

the ! She was evidently sea-green as well as 

seasick, or she would have found some convenient 
vessel in her room. On the second or third day out 
our seats at the table were arranofed and numbered. 
This isn't necessary at first, as but few have nerve 
enough to try the odor of ship-cooked meats — and 



l8o JOURNAL OF 

when they do are frequently glad to beat a hasty 
retreat. Then the slight but knowing smile of the 
servants, as you stagger to your room is quite aggra- 
vating. 

The storm of rain and wind which we experienced 
in first making the ocean has passed away, and to-day 
is ushered in clear and beautiful. A stiff breeze from 
the northeast; sea not very rough, however. Our 
vessel is running comparatively steady as her canvass 
is stretched. Have seen in the dim distance quite a 
number of sailing vessels; some so remote that their 
sails only are visible. The steerage is so crowded 
that it is impossible to give proper medical attention 
to our troops. 

Sunday, April 22d, 1833- — Struck the gulf stream 
at eleven last night; the atmosphere is consequently 
warmer. Early part of the night clear, with a mod- 
erate breeze. The heavens glittered with their 
brightest jewelry. The silvery moon gleamed her 
softest glances as she glided down the western plane, 
and Venus, though somewhat eclipsed by the queenly 
Luna, seemed joyously bright and sparkling. 

Great are the wonders of Thy handiwork, O God; 
and still more wonderful Thy mercy. Permit me on 
this blessed day of our Redeemer to offer unto Thee 
thanks for Thy protecting care and mercy. The best 
of us are frail helpless mortals. Vouchsafe unto us an 
assisting and controling hand, that we may not be as 
lost sheep from the fold. And whilst we gaze upon 
this vast ocean of water may we remember it is but a 
drop in comparison with the ocean of eternity — and 



AJ?MV LIFE. I 8 I 

on whose boundless bosom we must all sooner or 
later be launched; and that it will be to us an 
eternity of weal, or an eternity of woe. Oh, bring us 
to a proper appreciation of our awful responsibility — 
and may we prove worthy to rank with those to 
whom the Lord will say, well done my good and 
faithful servant, enter thou into the joys of my 
kingdom. 

April 23d, 1^33. — The past twenty-four hours have 
been delightful — at least as far as the weather is con- 
cerned. The wind is from the northeast, and very 
refreshing. Sky cloudy — sea com.paratively smooth. 
A large majority of the passengers now make their 
appearance at table. The children are less fretful; in 
short there is a general brightening up. I really felt 
comfortable this morning whilst seated under the fine 
awning, breathing the pure sea air. How delightful 
is the change since Saturday — then all were morose and 
sick, now all are cheerful. Some of the ladies have 
sufficiently revived to sing. Our fare is not sumptous, 
but substantial. The dessert is fine — tea and coffee 
abominable, as they always are on steamships, where 
all the aroma is dissipated by too much boiling. Ice 
is allowed us to-day; What a luxury! Saw yester- 
day and to-day several Mother Gary's chickens. 
These are only found far out at sea. 

Half -past 2, P. M. — Just finished^ dinner — full 
table — first meal that all seemed to enjoy. If the 
weather continues calm we will begin to think sea-life 
endurable after all. Still cloudy. At twelve m, we 



1 82 JOURNAL OF 

were in lat. 29 degrees 52 minutes, long. 74 degrees 
14 minutes, and had made in the preceding twenty- 
four hours two hundred and forty-one miles. As 
the ladies begin to show themselves at table we 
notice some very pretty and interesting faces. 

April 241/1, 1855- — Made since yesterday noon two 
hundred and forty-three miles. We are now distant 
from Xew York about nine hundred. Our course 
until yesterday evening was a point west of south — 
now a point east of south. In meteorological language 
(ten as maximum) the clearness of sky is five — force 
of wind three. The weather has been nearly the 
same since Saturday night — excepting a refreshing 
shower of rain at \\\ a. m. Have seen in the last 
twenty-four hours about half a dozen vessels. Sev- 
eral flying-fish have been noticed. The phosphores- 
cence, that beautiful phenomenon of southern waters, 
is not yet very brilliant. 

Our captain (McKinstry) is a lieutenant of the 
U. S. Navy. He has this command for a limited 
period only — agreeably to an act of congress permit- 
ting officers of the navy to command mail steamers 
when their services are specially required. His pay 
for -this duty of twenty -five hundred dollars is a per- 
quisite to his naval salary. A very clever gentleman, 
both intellectually and socially. As the army is a 
kindred branch of service he takes delight in showing 
us every civility and attention. We and our friends 
have seats near the head of his table. Our meals, 
therefore, are social repasts. 

The troops thus far have conducted themselves re- 



ARMY LIFE. I 83 

markably well. No disturbances between them and 
civilians, as is frequently the case when thrown 
together. To the shame of the fairer moitiS du geicre 
humaine.^ however, I regret to add that the only blot 
upon our good deportment so far was a rumpus raised 
by one of the camp-women, who, having secreted 
liquor aboard and become intoxicated, was exceed- 
ingly boisterous and noisy. Captain G, had her 
confined in the baofSfasfe-room till her fillibusteringf 
propensities somewhat subsided. Have at last found 
a tolerable place in which to examine the sick, and 
have proper attention given them. The ship's sur- 
geon, Dr. Otis, has kindly offered me his room for all 
cases requiring a nice examination. Lat. 25 degrees 
51 minutes, long. 74 degrees 40 minutes. 

April 2jth, 1S55' — Made two hundred and twenty- 
six miles in the last twenty-four hours. Latitude 22 
deg. 6 min.; longitude 74 deg. 23 min. Passed, last 
night, the Islands known as the TVattins — and at 
6 J this morning Long Island on our starboard; 
9J, Crooked Island on the larboard, and are now 
just off Castle Island, being named from a large 
rock, some distance from the shore, projecting to a 
considerable height, and resembling a castle. All 
these islands contain salt works. Met three sails this 
morning. Had our curiosities gratified yesterday by 
the sight of two boobies, which sailed aloft over our 
vessel. At a distance they resemble fish-hawks. They 
are remarkable for their stupidity. Sometimes alight- 
ing on the masts of the vessel, and falling asleep, are 
despatched by the sailors. A beautiful bird of para- 



184 JOURNAL OF 

dise sailed across our bow this morning — a wanderer 
doubtless from some neighboring isle — its plumage of 
a liofht and beautiful color. 

Rising early I had the pleasure of witnessing the 
aerial efforts of some flying-fish. It is an interesting 
sight to see them hurl aloft on the appearance of a 
porpoise. Sometimes light on deck; thus affording 
a dainty repast for the sailors. Refreshing shower 
this morning. Temperature growing warmer; clear- 
ness of sky remains about five; wind four. Every- 
body is coming out in summer apparel. Our amuse- 
ments consist in chess, whist and reading. The latter 
is most to my taste. 

April 26th, ig^^ — 12 M. — Latitude 18 deg. 28 min.; 
longitude 75 deg. 20 min. Weather about the same. 
Moderately cloudy, with occasional showers. There 
was, however, a slight squall last night. At dawn made 
Cuba on our starboard, and Jamaica also in the dim dis- 
tance. The former barely visible in consequence of the 
haziness of the atmosphere. Even the latter resem- 
bled a cloud so closely that it could only be determined 
by its outline. 

Quite an amusing hoax has just been played on 
some of the passengers. There is a very talkative 
little English Jew merchant on board, who got bruited 
around as being the Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. 
Having made himself disagreeable to a party of gen- 
tlemen, they were disposed to "snub him," but on 
learning that he was a high functionary of Jamaica, 
one of them. Judge McAlister, of the United States 
District Court of California, proposed making amends 



ARMY LIFE. I 85 

by treating him with more civility and attention. He 
accordingly gave him a special invitation to drink 
wine with him. Some one of the party expressed to 
the Judge their incredulity of the man's holding any 
high official station. But he insisted that there could 
be no mistake about it, as Captain McKinstry had 
assured him of its truth. Seeing the Judge, shortly 
after his tete-a-tete with the Governor, we asked him 
how fared his excellency. He replied with much irri- 
tation — "The fellow is a contemptible humbug." 

5 p. M. — Jamaica is in view; its picturesque mount- 
ains lift their lofty peaks in noble grandeur above the 
ocean. Oh, how I should love to exchange this 
monotonous ship-life for a few hours stroll over those 
lofty summits. So much is said of the luxury of sea 
air, but give me the pure mountain breeze forever. 
There is a dampness and sea-sick smell about every- 
thing on board ship to which I could never become 
reconciled. Kingston, Jamaica, though somewhat 
dilapidated, is said to be an interesting town. The 
most luscious tropical fruits abound there. The pas- 
sengers are delighted at the prospect of getting on 
terra firma once more, and of enjoying oranges fresh 
from the trees. The Illinois always touches there to 
take in coal. Preparations are made to land — even 
the big gun loaded for a salute. The pilot is aboard 
to see us safely through the harbor. Captain Mc- 
Kinstry suddenly decides to keep on to Aspinwall; 
everybody is surprised; what can be the matter? 
Some suggest the probability of yellow fever or 
small-pox at Kingston. The Lieutenant Governor is 



I 86 JOURNAL OF 

in a rage; swears he will sue the company for 
damages. The captain gives no satisfaction unless 
it is to the ladies, whom he tells that it would . delay 
him too long to stop at Kingston. But entre nous 
the true reason is, that that most fearful of all diseases 
to encounter on a crowded vessel — the small-pox — 
has broken out among us, and the matter has just 
been reported to the captain by myself. Rather than 
be quarantined at Jamaica he has wisely concluded to 
push on to Aspinwall, where there are no regulations 
to prevent our landing. Knowing the terror that the 
announcement of small-pox would create, we have 
agreed to keep it secret; but at the same time guard 
against its spreading. We shall erect a pavilion for 
the man (only one as yet) on the hurricane deck, in a 
nice airy place, and put sentinels at the gangways. 
No one shall be allowed to go up. 

The sick man is a soldier. As they have all been 
vaccinated, and are principally to themselves, a gen- 
eral outbreak of the disease is not apprehended. The 
crowded state of the vessel, however, is very favora- 
ble to its progress. I have one source of congratu- 
lation — that of having taken the precaution of vac- 
cinating all the men before leaving Bedloe's Island. 
This man undoubtedly had the seeds of the disease in 
him previous to vaccination, as it prevailed to a slight 
extent at Fort Columbus some eighteen days ago. 
Although vaccination is not a sure preventive, it 
arrests the disease to a surprising extent, and modifies 
it in all cases. 

April 2'jih — 12 m. — The fact of small-pox being 



ARMY LIFE. I 87 

on board is not yet discovered. Some of the knowing 
ones assert that the reason the Captain didn't stop at 
Kingston was owing to the small-pox being very preva- 
lent there; they are accordingly delighted at our not 
touching at so sickly a place. Our latitude is 14 deg. 
36 min.; longitude, ']'] deg. 38 min; and we have come 
in the last twenty-four hours two hundred and fifty- 
six miles. Several copious showers this morning — 
cooling the atmosphere, but being otherwise disagreea- 
ble, as every one is compelled to crowd in the cabin. 

2 p. M. — Another case of small-pox; if it should 
spread through the ship, what a dreadful time we shall 
have. 

April 2Sth. — Latitude, 10 deg. 42 min.; longitude, 
79 deg. 29 min.; two hundred and fifty-six miles since 
yesterday; the weather continues nearly the same, ex- 
cept that the wind is veering to the west. Our state- 
room being on the starboard side, we now begin to get 
a lively breeze through the skylight, at the expense, 
though, of being drenched occasionally by the spray; 
yet this is trifling in comparison to the heat we have 
had to endure heretofore. Last night was the most 
trying. Captain C. arose, exclaiming he should die if 
fresh air could not be obtained. We expect to reach 
Aspinwall to-night, where we will leave our small-pox 
cases until the next detachment arrives. The news is 
beginning to leak out, and excites much alarm. As 
yet the ladies are in blissful ignorance. Some of 
them have been advised to be vaccinated, as the small- 
pox is very prevalent at Aspinwall. Among others 
upon whom I have just performed this operation, are 



I 88 JOURNAL OF 

Mrs. H. and sister — very charming and intelligent 
ladies. They converse equally well in French, Span- 
ish and English — and one of them has the most angelic 
voice I have ever heard. The husband of Mrs. H. is 
an invalid — a resident of San Francisco, where he 
amassed a princely fortune; but for the last few years 
he has been traveling for his health. Oh, how hard 
it seems for one thus surrounded by all worldly means 
of happiness to be doomed by the insidious progress of 
that most fatal of all maladies — consumption; and this, 
too, in the bloom and pride of early manhood. 

Sunday, April 2gth — 7 a. m. — In the harbor of 
Aspinwall — got here last night at half past ten. Some 
difficulty in making the wharf, in consequence of the 
shallowness of the water, and the unmanageable state 
of our vessel — it being impossible to back her for some 
reason or other. Aspinwall contains about seven 
hundred inhabitants, and presents a very picturesque ap- 
pearance. The surrounding country, as well as the 
town itself, is studded with palmettos and cocoanut 
trees. The buildings are few — generally frame — and 
belong to the Railroad Company. It is unhealthy — 
malarious fevers being prevalent in August and Sep- 
tember; not so insalubrious, however, as Chagres, a 
point further south, where emigrants formerly crossed; 
it being fatal for a northerner to remain there any 
length of time. 

After all the passengers had gone ashore last night 
I superintended the transfer of the two small-pox 
cases to a comfortable hospital near the town; this 
unpleasant duty was performed in a small row-boat at 



ARMY LIFE. I 89 

three o'clock at night. They were put under the care 
of Dr. Fish, who at first seemed reluctant to take them, 
as it might create an excitement in the city. It is the 
current report in Aspinwall this morning, that there 
have been forty deaths from small-pox among the 
troops. Great sensation! Some impostor has been 
imposing on the credulity of the inhabitants. 

April ^oth. — Left Aspinwall in the first train of 
cars for Panama at half past nine a. m. The civilians 
came in the second train a few hours afterwards. Six 
hours in transitu, and only forty-nine miles of railroad. 
This was owing to the difficulty of passing over the 
steep grades. At these places the engines were re- 
versed and the train run back some distance, when the 
effort was renewed with increased force. At the sum- 
mit, two hundred and fifty feet above the level of the 
Pacific Ocean, we ran back five times before succeed- 
ing. The second train, being less heavily laden, ex- 
cited considerable alarm by occasionally coming up to 
us rather suddenly; and to add to the annoyances, our 
train halted within a quarter of a mile of the road's 
terminus in consequence of getting out of wood. In 
the meantime the hindmost engine came puffing up 
apparently, at full speed, and some gentlemen on the 
platform of one car cried out that we would be run 
into, and at the same time sprang off. This created a 
panic among the men — some of whom rushed for the 
door; others sprang out of the windows in the utmost 
confusion. I commended them to keep their seats — 
but to no purpose. When the excitement subsided, 
those who had run were rallied by the others for their 



IQO JOURNAL Oh 

timidity. Captain Henry W. Halleck, formerly of the 
Engineer Corps, and now a resident of San Francisco, 
and his bride, were passengers, and occupied the seat 
in front of Captain Cram and myself. When the stam- 
pede took place Captain Halleck was outside, but 
rushed for his wife, who was fortunately asleep, and 
did not awake until the excitement was over. Cap- 
tain Gardiner and some other army people were in the 
car behind. 

Getting out of wood at this point was owing to the 
carelessness of the fireman — or rather stubbornness — 
for being piqued at the Superintendent because he put 
on a second engine to assist us over the heavy grades; 
he neglected to fire up properly, and take in fuel at the 
proper time. In the States such a man would not be 
tolerated a single moment; but here it is impossible to 
relieve him under three or four weeks at least, there 
being no one on the Isthmus to take his place. This 
is only one of the thousand difficulties which the com- 
pany has had to contend with in constructing such a 
stupendous work so far from the States. 

In the first place, the physical features of the coun- 
try were such as to render it almost incredible that a 
railroad could be constructed over it. Their workmen, 
some five thousand, were only to be had in the States, 
and other distant places — and the same difficulty ob- 
tained as it regards their material for the road and cars, 
which was obtained in Maine and Georgia; for although 
there is abundance of timber along the road, it is of too 
perishable a nature for the construction of a railroad. 
Medicines and provisions were also brought from the 
States. 



ARMY LIFE. I9I 

The road cost seven millions of dollars. It runs 
through a picturesque country of alternate hills and 
dales, covered with perpetual green. Some thirty va- 
rieties of tropical plants are seen along the route: 
such as the cocoanut, cocoa, palmetto, orange, ba- 
nana and mangrove. The latter form in many places 
impenetrable thickets; and one finds it impossible 
to unravel the mysterious involutions of trunk, root, 
branch and foliage — as their roots shoot into the air, 
and their branches into the ground — thus forming a 
dense jungle. Here and there are to be seen native 
shanties, consisting of a framework of small poles 
covered with palmetto leaves. The natives are indol- 
ent — subsisting mainly on fish, game and the proceeds 
of fruits sold to emigrants. Yesterday being Sunday 
we found them in their best attire. We saw a few 
negresses handsomely dressed, but they were evident- 
ly not natives ; probably importations from the States. 

Living on the Isthmus is very expensive — board is 
four dollars per diem at the hotels — no distinction made 
for children or servants; miserable fare even at this 
price. Vegetables on the table are rari avi ; and 
stale at that. It seems to be the general wonder of 
travelers, crossing by this route, why some enterpris- 
ing Yankees don't settle down here and try their for- 
tunes at gardening — as vegetables are so scarce and 
dear, and the soil so rich. Upon inquiry, however, I 
find that the common garden vegetables of the States 
will not thrive in this climate. 

As the steamer was waiting for us at Panama, we 
had but little time to examine that dilapidated old sea- 
port of the United States of Colombia. This fortified 



192 JOURNAL OF 

city has rather a pleasing aspect from the sea, being 
situated on a rocky peninsula, jutting out into the Bay 
of Panama. Though perhaps cleaner than many Span- 
ish-American cities, yet the odors arising from the ac- 
cumulated filth in some of the streets are not like those 
of the attar of roses and oil of bergamot. It is built 
of stone in the old Spanish style. It was for many 
years the great centre of trade between the Pacific 
coast of America and Europe, but began to decline in 
1 740, when this trade commenced to find its channel 
around Cape Horn, but is now reviving again on ac- 
count of the immense travel across the Isthmus to and 
from California. 

Its harbor is good, but very shallow near the shore — 
necessitating large vessels to be at low tide from two 
to four miles out in the bay. The tides arise and fall 
about twenty-five feet. It commands a beautiful view 
of Panama Bay in front, and is overlooked in the rear 
by high hills. During one of the frequent revolutions 
in the city. General Bolivar planted his cannon on one 
of those heights and stormed the place. He was too 
far above the horizontal line for his shot to have much 
effect; nevertheless, the cannon's deafening roar fright- 
ened the city into capitulation. 

From Panama we embarked on the John L. Stevens, 
Captain Pearson, commanding. She lay four miles out 
in the harbor, and had to be approached by row boats, 
and a small steamboat. It was almost impossible to 
get into the boats from the sandy beach without 
getting one's feet wet; owing to the continual swell of 
the sea. It was necessary to take advantage of the 
receding waves, and be as expeditious as possible, or 



ARMY LIFE. 1 93 

the succeeding surge would drench us. It being dark 
when the majority of the passengers reached the 
steamer there was terrible confusion. The boats 
•crowded at the gangway, each endeavoring to get 
precedence over the other. The pulling and hauling, 
and cursing and swearing, terrified the ladies greatly. 
The steamer is a magnificent vessel; very large and 
kept in perfect order; fine airy staterooms, and a 
promenade on the hurricane deck of three hundred 
and twenty feet in length; her discipline is perfect; 
the captain enforces his rules with much energy and 
strictness. Being a rough old sailor he is somewhat 
deficient in that cordial and gentlemanly bearing 
towards his passengers, which so eminently dis- 
tinguishes the naval from merchant captains. Yet his 
constant attention to all the details of his duty inspires 
us with confidence. Our fare is good, but we miss the 
abundance of ice which was allowed us on the other 
side of the Isthmus. Here we pay twenty-five cents a 
pound for it; and not sure of getting enough even at 
this price. 

May 1st, 1833' — Had a smooth passage yesterday. 
This ocean, from its calmness and placidity, is very 
appropriately named. The steamer is exceedingly 
short of servants; she even has not her usual com- 
plement, in consequence of the Golden Age not 
having got in before her departure. As each 
vessel tarries in port a fortnight it is customary 
to turn her servants over to the first one of the 
line that goes out. But even with this arrangement 
they are generally very scarce, owing to the fact that 

13 



194 JOURNAL OF 

very few are permanently employed; simply engaging 
to work their passage to and from California. 

Whilst at dinner yesterday (5 p. m.) news arrived of 
the wreck of the Golden Age. She ran on a shoal in 
passing between the Islands of Ke-ka-re and Quibo, 
pronounced Kee-bo; and, staving in her bottom, put 
ashore in distress. This happened at two a. m. last 
Sunday. A row boat was immediately dispatched for 
Panama, a distance of two hundred miles, for succor. 
But falling in with us we hurried on, and arriving at 
the wreck this morning at two, found the Age lying 
securely on a sand beach, with her bow almost out of 
water. The accident occurred about six hundred 
yards from the Island. Water began rushing 
in at a fearful rate, but the captain (Watkins) suc- 
ceeded in reaching the shore in time to save all on 
board. We are now re-shipping her passengers and 
freight with a view of returning to Panama with them. 
This will detain us about three days. 

It seems difficult to arrive at the particulars of the 
accident. It appears, however, that the Age had been 
detained a day over her time at San Francisco, and 
was endeavoring to regain the loss time, as well as 
make a "crack trip." In the latter particular she un- 
fortunately succeeded. One of the principal agents, 
Mr. Aspinwall, was aboard, and, it is said, talking 
with the captain on deck when the vessel ran against 
the rock; it was a clear moonlight night. She has 
about nine hundred passengers, making in all about 
nineteen hundred persons on board our vessel; a 
perfect jam. Although we are glad to be able to 
afford relief to the distressed, yet a few days' delay 



AHA/V LIFE. 



195 



may cause us serious inconvenience in case the small- 
pox reappears among us. 

All the passengers are now aboard, and this immense 
vessel is crowded from stem to stern. Hardly a breath 
of air since the rain this morning. All seem ex- 
hausted from the exercise, heat and fatigue of standing 
up. How this great number of hungry stomachs will 
be able to satisfy their cravings, is more than I can tell. 
For the present we are put on two meals per diem. 
So we need complain no longer of the want of an 
appetite. 

I should remark that the "Golden Age " was wreck- 
ed at a most fortunate point of the coast. Almost 
anywhere else within two hundred miles of this place 
she must have met a watery grave — as the shore is ex- 
ceedingly bluff. The passengers amused themselves, 
whilst waiting for relief, in hunting monkeys and wild 
fruits. Many were sickened by a too free indulgence 
in the latter. 

Wednesday, 2d — 7 a. m. — Been raining and blowing 
all night — most everybody thoroughly uncomfortable. 
It would have been pleasanter for the wrecked passen- 
gers had they remained on board the "Golden Age," 
and the detention would only have been a day, as we 
met the "Panama" at four this morning in search of 
the former vessel. I am glad to witness so much 
good feeling on the part of the passengers to each 
other under the circumstances. Some of our passen- 
gers, it is true, can't be reconciled to so much inconve- 
nience in order to confer so slia^ht a benefit. Per- 
haps their having to wait so much longer for their 



196 JOURNAL OF 

meals is the most disag-reeable feature of the whole. 
Saw a large school of porpoises rolling and pitching 
alongside of the vessel yesterday. The "Panama" 
is struggling onward some distance in our rear. The 
wrecked passengers were not transferred to her, as it 
would have made them too late for to-day's train. 

May ^d. — Arrived oft Panama yesterday, 12 m. The 
" Golden Age" passengers got ashore, and started im- 
mediately for Aspinwall. Another case of small-pox 
yesterday morning among the troops. I superintended 
the transfer of the poor fellow to a comfortable hospital, 

near Panama, and left him under the care of Dr. , 

formerly a surgeon to the New York Volunteers — an 
exceedingly pleasant person, but very punctillious in 
matters of honor. He has just fought a duel with a 
gentleman of Panama; the latter's fire tore off the shirt 
collar of the Doctor, who fired in the air — the seconds 
then interfered and amicably arranged the matter. 

The steamship was unable to await the return of my 
party, but got under way for Tobago (twelve miles 
distant), even before we reached the shore. However, 
the agent had promised us transportation to that 
place in time to regain the steamer before she should 
finish coaling. Having seen my man comfortably 
cared for, the three attendants and myself made pre- 
parations for departure. On our way to the wharf, we 
met Dr. McNorton, the ship's surgeon, who had also 
been left behind. Hiring a row-boat, we started for a 
little steamboat, three miles out in the bay, which was 
taking on coal (from a vessel) for the ''Stephens," and 
of course was bound for Tobago. When we had got 



A/^AfV LIFE. 197 

about half way to her, she started for some other point. 
It fortunately struck us, that she was making for a 
lighter some two miles off, near the shore. For this 
point our oarsmen were directed to push with all their 
energy; and we fortunately reached the place just in 
the very nick of time — a minute later and we would 
have been left behind. We joined our friends on the 
" Stephens " about midnight. I should have added that, 
besides the Doctor, we fell in with another gentleman, 
who had also been left behind. He had grone ashore 
to seek a trunk (worth some $40,000 to him) which was 
lost. He could learn no tidings of it; it contained pa- 
pers relating to a large amount of property in San 
Francisco. 

Before leaving Panama, we went to a restaurant and 
got some fine oysters, which are obtained on the coast, 
some forty miles from that place. Also, some deli- 
cious Calitornia potatoes, which are much larger than 
those in the States. There is evidently quite a num- 
ber of sleight-of-hand gentry abroad — several gentle- 
men have been robbed. Among others the ship's 
surgeon of $65, and a diamond ring worth I200. 

May 4thj iS55- — Our course, until we got out of 
Panama, a distance of two hundred miles, was just a 
little west of south; now it is w. n. w. The weather 
is very warm and showery — moderately cloudy all the 
time — an occasional breeze. 

We have at last seen the famous monster of the 
deep — the whale. He made his appearance within 
one hundred yards of the ship. Every time he came 
to the surface he caus^^d the water to fly equal to a 



198 JOURNAL OF 

New York fire-engine. So far our course from 
Panama has been within from two to ten miles of 
land. Some of the scenery is very beautiful. Oc- 
casionally quite a lofty mountain peak looms up in the 
dim distance, spurs of the Cordilleras. Taking a 
seat on the hurricane deck last evening I beheld the 
rising moon springing forth from her watery bed in 
full and orlorious effulofence; she looked larger and 
brighter than ever. The most interesting sight of all 
(because new) was the Southern Cross. The North 
Star was also seen about eight degrees above the 
horizon. 

12 d clock J M. — Latitude 8 deg. 20 min.; longitude 
83 deg. 30 min. Distance from Panama three hun- 
dred and forty-seven miles. 

Sunday, May 6th, 1855- — Distance in twenty-four 
hours two hundred and fifty-six miles. Latitude 15 
deg. 02 min; north longitude 91 deg. 39 min. west. 
Decidedly the warmest day of the trip. Sky hazy; 
no breeze, except from the motion of the ship. Ocean 
for a few hours this morning smooth as a mirror. But 
even when not affected by the wind it is in a state of 
undulation or gentle swell. This causes the vessel to 
roll a great deal. Some of the machinery getting out 
of gear yesterday, we were compelled to stop several 
times. While thus quiescent I was struck with the re- 
markable clearness of the ocean. Some potato peel- 
ings being thrown overboard they could be seen to 
the depth of thirty or forty feet. Everything con- 
sidered we have cause for thankfulness in getting on 



A/?MY LIFE. 1 99 

SO smoothly. In truth, instead of becoming disgusted 
with this kind of Hfe, I really begin to enjoy it. 

May jth, 1855' — Smooth sea until eight this morn- 
ing; since then rough, with a stiff breeze. Nearly 
everybody sea-sick. Most of those who picked up 
courage to go to the table this morning were glad to 
leave as soon as possible. The captain, like a jolly 
old tar, is rallying some of the faint-hearted ones 
about the rough weather. Says he hopes it will 
continue, as it gives plenty of room on the ship; most 
every one has retired to their rooms. As to myself I 
took a few spoonfuls of tea and left the table sans 
cerenionie. One cause of the roughness is our cross- 
ing the Gulf of Tehuantepec. 

Considerable excitement was created yesterday by 
a notice on the bulletin board for all seafaring men to 
meet at the captain's office at one o'clock. This 
meeting was for the purpose of organizing parties 
to perform certain duties in the event of a fire, or 
other such emergency. Some were to command the 
boats; others to use the hose to extinguish the fire, 
others again to guard the hatchways. The excite- 
ment was increased when these parties were called 
on deck to go through a system of drilling. Many 
of the ladies were in tears, deeming that some acci- 
dent was impending or apprehended to induce such 
precautions. Since the loss of the "Arctic" it is the 
custom of most commanders to prepare for such 
accidents as fire. To prevent unnecessary alarm, it 
would be advisable to state on the bulletin board the 
object of such preparations. 



200 yOl.I^XAL OF 

May %th, 1855- — Our eyes were delighted with the 
sight of land yesterday, at three p. m. And what adds 
still more to the interest of the view is its being the 
western border of that country with which we have 
lately had such a bloody struggle — Mexico — a down- 
trodden nation — wrapped in civil discord and war. 
For the last two years civil carnage has cast a gloom 
over the land. Province after province has revolted 
against Santa Anna (the present self-styled Emperor). 
They have not acted sufficiently in concert with each 
other to effect anything by their movements. 

To-day noon we will probably reach Acapulco, 
where we expect to take in coal. This place is 
thirteen hundred or fourteen hundred miles from 
Panama, and eighteen hundred or nineteen hundred 
from San Francisco. 

Wednesday, May gth, 1855- — Latitude 17 deg. 45 
min. north; longitude 102 deg. 05 min. west. Dis- 
tance from Acapulco one hundred and forty-five miles. 
We arrived at the latter place yesterday at noon. 
Left there last nigfht at twelve. A small but beautiful 
harbor— about a mile long — surrounded by a lofty 
mountain rancre. The town contains some two thou- 
sand souls — is built principally of adobe, a species of 
sun-dried brick. It was visited December 4th, 1852, 
by an earthquake, which destroyed all its principal 
buildinofs. 

Considerable excitement here in regard to gold 
mines, said to have been recently discovered in the 
neighborhood. Some of our steerage passengers were 
foolish enough to stop with the view of going to them, 



ARMY LIFE. 



201 



thus losing their passage to California. It is believed 
to be a speculating scheme on the part of certain 
American officials of this port; there may be, of course, 
a slight foundation for the report. To-day is exceed- 
ingly warm— no rain for several days; still in sight of 
the coast. 

I should have added, that whilst lying in port at 
Acapulco, we were much amused and astonished at wit- 
nessing the Mexican boys dive; they would swim 
along side the steamer in crowds, and cry out, picaytme, 
SeTior. Some passenger would drop overboard a 
small silver coin, when the little fellows would rush to 
the spot where the piece struck the water, and by div- 
ing perpendicularly succeed almost invariably in getting 
it, even though it hit the water fifteen yards from them. 

Money, however, don't sink very rapidly in water 

much less so in salt water— it always takes a kind of 
zigzag motion. 

May loth, ig^j. — Distance since yesterday noon, 
262 miles. Latitude, 19° 50'; longitude 106°. We 
are now crossing the mouth of the Gulf of California, 
and, consequendy, have a pretty rough sea and re- 
freshing breeze. Saw off our larboard yesterday 
afternoon a ship— the first seen in the Pacific thus far. 
As the sailing vessels double Cape Horn, their course 
is further out at sea than ours, hence our seeing them 
so rarely. 

May nth, ig^j^.—A smoother time in the Gulf than 
anticipated; some of the passengers were, neverthe- 
less, sea-sick; weather sensibly cooler — in fact, pleas- 



202 JOURNAL OF 

ant. I could get quite a practice on board were it not 
somewhat interfering with the province of the ship's 
surgeon. I performed a shght operation on this gen- 
tleman himself the other day, in removing two chicots 
(she-koes, though vulgarly called giggers), from his 
big toe. These insects are very troublesome in the 
tropics; burrowing in the flesh, usually of the big toe, 
they reproduce themselves by thousands, thus creating 
inflammation, which ends in mortification of the whole 
foot if they are not removed in time. 

May 12th, 1853- — Got off Cape St. Lucas at 5 p. m. 
yesterday; strong head wind and very rough sea; grew 
suddenly cool; every one donned winter clothing. Our 
state-room is on the starboard side, upper deck, and is 
one of the most airy and pleasant in the ship; three 
berths in it. One occupied by Captain Cram, U. S. 
Topographical Engineers; the other by Dr. Evans, 
U. S. Geologist; the third by myself. Mine being the 
upper one, is decidedly the most pleasant in hot weather 
as it gets more air from the window, but now the tem- 
perature is lower I must ask for additional bed cloth- 
ing; however, I have just learned that there is an extra 
blanket beneath the mattress, of which I shall avail 
myself to-night. 

Again in sight of land — probably islands near the 
coast. On one of them, INIargarita Island, the steamer 
"Independence" was wrecked and burned February 
1 6th, 1853, ^vith the loss of nearly two hundred pas- 
sengers. The total number of crew and passengers on 
board was four hundred and fourteen. Seven or eicrht 
steamers have been lost on this coast between Panama 



AJiA/V LIFE. 203 

and San Francisco within the last six years; some 
from fire, but the most of them by running on shoals. 
There should be a law to prevent captains running so 
near the shore. Saw a whaling vessel this morning. 
This cool spell is very agreeable to the most of us. 

Sunday, May 13th, 1833- — 12 o'clok m. — Two hun- 
dred and twenty-three miles since yesterday noon. 
Latitude, 27 deg. 37 min.; Longitude, 115 deg. 7 min. 
One reason of our going so slowly is said to be the 
inferior quality of coal that we are now using; the 
wind is ahead also. 'Tis thought that the worst coal 
will be exhausted by to-morrow, when the ship will 
make more progress. This steamer consumes thirty- 
five tons a day; the "Golden Age," (double engine), 
seventy. It costs thirty dollars per ton; it is obtained 
from the Atlantic States and Europe. Six whales 
were seen this morning spouting alongside of our ves- 
sel; weather delightfully refreshing. Have just been 
introduced to a perfect treasure — ship's library — and 
have, consequently, discarded the miserable trash that 
I have heretofore been compelled to read for want of 
something more substantial. 

May i^th, 1833 . — Lofty mountains are visible in the 
dim distance. Their shadowy tints forcibly remind 
me of the following beautiful lines of Campbell: 

" Why do those diffs of shadowy tint appear 
More sweet than all the landscape smiling near ? 
'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, 
And robes the mountain in its azure hue." 

It is almost impossible to collect one's ideas on board 
this noisy vessel. Even while I am writing, one of 



204 yOUJii\'AL OF 

the greates bores of the ship has taken his stand close 
by my door with his confounded twattle. He makes 
acquaintanceship with everbody — inquires their history, 
and present objects in travehng; then gives his own. 
This I have heard him relate a dozen times in front of 
our state-room; and, usually, about four o'clock in the 
morning, when one most desires repose. All of our 
friends complain of his monotonous nasal twang; for 
durinor ^he course of the morninof he makes his visit to 
every part of the ship. He professes to have been a 
preacher, commissioner of health, police officer, and, 
finally, an herb doctor. When he can command the 
attention of some old woman, he moves her sympathies 
by relating how piously his mother brought him up. 
According to his story, he has never been absent from 
home after sundown; never gone to a theatre, nor 
eaten an oyster supper, nor smoked, nor chewed, nor 
drank. Perhaps, in five minutes thereafter, you will 
find him taking a glass of brandy in the Surgeon's 
room; and one does not satisfy him, for, in the course 
of the day, his libations are frequent. The Doctor at 
first considered it a capital joke, but was finally com- 
pelled to snub him, for the old fellow exhausted nearly 
all his liquor. The old humbug considered the Doctor 
ungrateful, particularly as he had given him a "yerb 
prescription for the cholera, worth $i,ooo." The ap- 
pearance of whales and porpoises are now frequent; 
weather delightfully cool. 



ARMY LIFE. 20 = 



CHAPTER XV. 

BENICIA BARRACKS TO PORT ORFORD, O. T. 

San Francisco — Benicia Barracks — Climate — Anecdotes of Speculation — Land 
Titles — San Jose Lawyer and his client — Stormy Voyage to Fort Orford, 

San Fka.nxisco, California, May i6th, 1855. 

WE arrived here to-day at noon. The presence 
of Captain Gardiner being necessary aboard 
the Steamer to keep order among the troops, I was 
requested to report our arrival to Brig.-General John 
E. Wool, the commander of the Pacific. He directed 
us to proceed with the troops to Benicia Barracks. 
Availing myself of the delay of the John L. Stevens, 
I took a little stroll around the city. The entrance to 
the bay of San Francisco, known as the Golden Gate, 
is formed by a great fissure in the coast range of 
mountains, and is only one mile and seventeen yards 
wide at its narrowest point. As we enter it from the 
ocean for the first time, its width seems much less than 
it really is — owing to the high steep bluffs on either 
side. 

San Francisco is situated upon the sandy peninsula, 
or ridge, that separates the bay from the ocean — having 
the latter about four miles to the west, and the golden 
gate nearly the same distance in a north-westerly 
direction. It faces on the east the San Francisco bay, 
which is formed by the confluence of the San Joaquin 
and Sacramento rivers. This bay extends north and 
south parallel with the Pacific ocean, about forty miles; 



2o6 JOURNAL OF 

being separated from the latter by the narrow penin- 
sula just mentioned. The city possesses one of the 
finest harbors in the world. A few scattered houses, 
called Washer-woman's Bay, first present themselves 
on nearing the wharf, causing a feeling of disappoint- 
ment; which is, however, soon dispelled on landing 
and seeing the many beautiful residences and noble 
brick and granite stores. The population is about 
forty-five thousand, a wonderful increase since April, 
1848, when the town contained only eight hundred 
and fifty souls. 

Although the times are hard here now, owing to 
the late financial panic, and croakers think the end of 
the city's prosperity has come, there must sooner or 
later be a reaction; when she will grow faster than ever. 
To obtain a fine view of San Francisco, and the 
surrounding country, it is necessary to go to the top 
of telegraph hill, from which eminence of two hundred 
and ninety feet one has a sight of portions of ten 
counties, the bay, the Pacific ocean, and the magical 
city below, destined to be the New York of the 
Pacific coast. 

Benicia Barracks, May 20th, 1855. 

We reached this place on the seventeenth instant. 
On examining the baggage I discovered that my two 
trunks, containing clothing and valuable books, were 
missing. This was surprising, as I had been particular 
on arriving at San Francisco to see my baggage sepa- 
rated from that which was to be put out there, and 
took the, further precaution of having it placed under 
the charge of a corporal. Knowing how rarely any- 



ARMY LIFE. 20/ 

thing of this kind was recovered when left behind, I 
felt rather discouraged for the moment. Seeing a 
boat coming down the river at the time, I made for 
the landing, in order to secure a passage to San 
Francisco to hunt my trunks. Being ignorant of the 
path, I cut across a swampy flat, and had it rough and 
tug, over my patent leathers in mud and mire, for 
about a mile and a half. Missed her — had to wait for 
a second. Got to San Francisco at one and a half at 
night. On inquiring at the steamship company's 
office the following morning, had the satisfaction of 
finding the lost trunks, which had been taken ashore. 
Gross carelessness both on the part of the baggage- 
master and corporal. 

Returning to Benicia the same day, I reported my- 
self to the Medical Director, Surgeon Charles G. 
Tripler, for temporary duty at that place. These 
barracks are situated on an elevated rolling prairie, 
three quarters of a mile from the Suisun bay, right 
bank. The whole country is now carpeted by a 
luxuriant crop of wild oats. It is splendid forage for 
horses and cattle. Makes capital hay; but should be 
packed immediately after being cured, or else it be- 
comes too dry, and loses much of its strength. 
Many beautiful flowers add freshness and brilliancy 
to the enchanting landscape. Several copious show- 
ers in the last few days; an unusual thing in this 
season. The Mexicans say los Yankees have changed 
everything — even the climate. 

Near the fort is a little village of the same name. 
The latter is thirty miles north of San Francisco, and 
is situated on the north side of the Strait of Carqui- 



208 JOURNAL OF 

nez, a contraction of San Francisco bay; which is here 
only a mile wide. The expansion just above this point 
is called Suisun bay; into which the waters of the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers empty by numer- 
ous channels, called sloughs, forming a kind of delta. 
The largest ocean vessels can easily reach the city of 
Benicia. 

Things are dearer here than in San Francisco — ex- 
cepting rent and board. The latter, at the American 
Hotel, where I am stopping is three dollars per diem. 
But prices are coming down, as flour and vegetables 
can now be purchased comparatively cheap. Certain 
kinds of fruits are high, and must be so for many 
years. A gentleman of veracity has just assured me 
that, feeling a desire for an apple, he asked the price of 
some the other day, and was told two dollars and a 
half each. Of course he didn't gratify his taste. 
In a few years fruit will be abundant, as much atten- 
tion is being given to its cultivation both here and in 
the adjoining Territory of Oregon. Peaches and 
pears grow well in this State, but the best apples are 
raised in Oregon. 

May 2^, 1833- — The snow-capped Sierra Nevada is 
visible this morning. To the naked eye it looks like 
a bank of white clouds, but its outline and character 
are fully determined by a spyglass. This is a fine 
climate for flowers — which can be kept in perpetual 
bloom by watering. Strolling through the garden of 
a friend this morning, I saw a perfect paradise of sweet- 
williams, verbenas, geraniums, mallows, sweet peas, 
and many varieties of flowers peculiar to the prairies 



A/^A/y LIFE. 



209 



of California. One unknown species of the latter is 
remarkable for its propensity to spread. A single 
shoot will extend over a large bed in the course of a 
single year, r 

Benicia Barracks, June nth, 1855. 

Having been assigned to duty at Fort Orford, 
Oregon Territory, I shall proceed thither in a few 
days. General Wool has returned from Oregon. 
Whilst there he fitted out an expedition for the 
Snake Indian country to protect emigrants from the 
States. It is feared that the emigration to Oregon 
and California will be very small this year in conse- 
quence of Indian hostilities on the plains east of the 
Rocky Mountains. A large force, under the com- 
mand of General Harney, is being sent against the 
Siouxs and other troublesome tribes on that frontier. 
The last papers brought us accounts of several en- 
counters between the Apaches and dragoons in New 
Mexico. Indian troubles in this department (the 
Pacific) are also quite frequent. 

The coast climate of this portion of California is di- 
vided into two seasons, the dry and wet The former 
extending from May to November, the latter the re- 
mainder of the year. There is, properly speaking, no 
winter nor summer. The latter, or dry season, is, per- 
haps, colder than the former, and far more disagreea- 
ble, on account of the prevalence of cold winds, dense 
fogs and dust, which do not prevail in the wet, or win- 
ter season. The clear weather of winter is represented 
as delightfully balmy and pleasant. This description 

14 



2IO JOURNAL OF 

is more particularly applicable to San Francisco; and, 
perhaps, Benicia. 

The almost entire absence of rain in summer is very 
favorable for harvesting, which is now in full blast in 
this vicinity. At present, one may see hundreds of 
persons cutting down wild oats; which, being simply 
cocked, is allowed to remain on the ground for weeks, 
and even months, without fear of its being spoiled by 
rain. Some haste is required in mowing it, however, 
as it matures very rapidly in consequence of the high 
winds and dry atmosphere. When I first arrived, the 
grass was beautifully fresh and green — it is now drying 
rapidly. In a few weeks some miscreant will proba- 
bly set it on fire, after which the whole country will 
look black and barren until November, when the 
young oats and grass will spring up. 

The old adage: " Every rose has its thorns," is as 
true in regard to this country and climate, as to any- 
thing else. The thorns here are fleas, which are as 
thick as the locusts of Egypt. It seems impossible 
that even Pharoah's obdurate heart could have with- 
stood such a plague as this. I was at first rather 
shocked at the careless manner in which, even ladies^ 
alluded to these insects; but a short experience taught 
me that the rascals would force themselves upon the 
attention of all; and, like many other troublesome 
things, soon become an engrossing subject of conver- 
sation. Perhaps, these are the only pests, as there 
are no venomous snakes, tarantulas, scorpions, centi- 
pedes, or mosquitoes, or, if any, but few. It is proba- 
ble the latter would be troublesome, were it not for the 
high winds, which blow day and night, with the ex- 



ARMY LIFE. 211 

ception of an hour or two about sundown. These 
render the country particularly unpleasant for females, 
as they prevent their riding or promenading as much 
as they otherwise would. 

San Francisco, June 17th, 1855. 

Left Benicia last Wednesday for this place. Will 
leave here on Wednesday, next, in the steamer "Co- 
lumbia," for 'Fort Orford, Oregon. The present is a 
great epoch in the history of this eventful city. The 
recent failures of a few extensive firms, among others 
the banking house of Page, Bacon & Co., have created 
a perfect panic among business men. In addition to 
this, there are being brought forward for adjudication 
large claims, founded upon Mexican grants, for some 
of the land in and around San Francisco. The Bolton- 
Barron grant, alone, calls for three thousand acres. 
This claim has been allowed by the U. S. Land Com- 
missioners; thus making Palmer, Cook & Co., who 
got half of it, the wealthiest men in California. It has 
yet to go through the Supreme Court; but as the 
Board acted in conformity to decisions laid down by 
this Honorable body, its decision may probably be 
sustained. 

The history of the claim is, that whilst California 
still belonged to the Mexican Government, the latter 
granted to the Padre of the Dolores Mission, this 
amount of land, provided, he liquidated the debts 
of the Mission. This he complied with. When the 
gold fever broke out, the Padre was unable to prevent 
squatters from settling on his land, and accordingly 
sold it out. It subsequently fell into the hands of a 



212 JOURNAL OF 

company in Philadelphia, and the gentlemen above 
mentioned, who brought the present suit. The deci- 
sion of the Commissioners has created great excite- 
ment, as hundreds of men are thus dispossessed of 
what they deemed their own. The latter have got up 
an association denominated "Our Homes and our Fire- 
sides," with a view of influencing the Legislature, and 
thus causing to be enacted a law to secure them in 
their rio-hts. 

There are many other large claims besides this. 
One, the Leidesdorff, embraces some of the finest por- 
tions of the southern part of the city. This is now be- 
fore the Land Commissioners. If allowed, it will 
probably ruin an acquaintance of mine, Captain Fol- 
som, Assistant Quartermaster, U, S. Army; as it will 
not only absorb a large portion of his estate, but es- 
tablish a point in law which will compel him to loose 
the remainder. This gentleman was considered in the 
early part of last year as the largest land-holder in 
California, and, perhaps, in the United States. At the 
enormous rates at which property was then selling, his 
estate would have brought him a million and a half of 
dollars. His indebtedness was something like $200,- 
000. Some of his judicious friends advised him to 
take advantage of the high prices, and dispose of 
enough of his estate to liquidate his debts, on which he 
was paying an annual interest of from thirty to forty 
per centum. But, like many others, his ambition was 
to be considered among the wealthiest land-holders in 
the United States, and he, therefore, held on till the 
present time. If his property were now forced into 
market it would not yield more than one quarter of its 



1 



ARMY LIFE. 2 I 3 

value a year ago — and there is no prospect of a reac- 
tion for a long time to come, as the prices oi '54 v^ere 
greatly inflated. 

There is also a Mexican (native Californian) claimant 
for the quicksilver mines in San Jose (pronounced San 
Ho-sa) Valley, south of San Francisco some forty miles. 
These are considered the most productive mines in the 
world — at present owned by an English company. 
This whole valley is considered the richest and best in 
California. It possesses a great advantage over other 
sections of the State, in its numerous artificial springs, 
or artesian wells, which are the finest in the Union. 
It is said to be necessary to bore only from fifteen to 
thirty feet to obtain fine gushing streams; some of 
which throw water to the height of eight and ten feet. 

It is related that a gentleman in a little village near 
the mines (I think San Jose) went to work boring an 
artificial spring, and that when he got down to the depth 
of some fifteen feet, the water rushed out in such a 
torrent that it was feared it would inundate the town. 
The City Council convened and passed an act fining 
the man five hundred dollars unless he put an imme- 
diate stop to the water. The poor fellow was in a 
dilemma, for he had tried his best, but couldn't succeed, 
in stemming the impetuous torrent. Finally he took 
the advice of a lawyer as to how he might avoid the 
penalty. The latter told him that if he would follow 
his instructions the matter could be settled in a very 
short time, and that his fee would be one hundred 
dollars. The fellow gladly embraced the proposition. 
His professional adviser then directed him to dig a 
ditch and let the water run into an adjacent ravine. 



214 JOURNAL OF 

The simplicity of the thing confounded him at first. 
He paid the fee, however, did as advised, and of course 
succeeded. This is a moral for all who seek profes- 
sional advice before exerting properly their own good 
common sense; for although this lawyer made an 
enemy of his client by not giving him advice more in 
conformity with legal custom in such cases, he un- 
doubtedly conferred on him a greater benefit than is 
usually received by clients. 

In connection with Captain Folsom's case, I should 
have added, that the rates of interest that he is pay- 
ing are trifling, in comparison to the enormous sums 
exacted from men in reduced circumstances. A gen- 
tleman assured me that, in 1850 and 1851 he never 
lent a dollar for less than fifteen per cent, a month — 
the rates are now from two to three and a half per 
cent, on bond and mortgage. This demand for money 
seems an anomaly in a State from which there is a 
monthly shipment of three millions of dollars. This 
condition of things is, in a measure, owing to the un- 
certainty of titles; one is never perfectly sure that 
the person to whom he lends his money has an un- 
doubted right to the property offered as surety; and, 
even if the title be good, there may be a previous 
mortgage, notwithstanding he has employed a lawyer 
to examine the records, for the latter are so voluminous, 
in consequence of the constant changes of ownership 
to property, that it is generally impossible to examine 
the matter thoroughly in the time usually devoted to 
such examinations in this community; hence, many 
who have loaned money on mortgage at three per 
cent, a month, wind up by losing principal and all. 



ARMY LIFE. 



215 



This state of things has rendered capitaHsts timid in 
lending out their means on real estate security. But, 
independent of this, there is probably a greater demand 
for money in San Francisco than in any other city of its 
size in the world, in consequence of an unlimited sys- 
tem of speculation. The desire for speculation seems 
to have affected all professions and classes; and ex- 
tends to every variety of goods or merchandise, as 
well as real estate. In regard to merchandise, the 
losses generally fall on the shipper or Eastern mer- 
chant; nine-tenths of them lose heavily. For instance, 
gentlemen in New York, Philadelphia or Boston, learn 
that a certain article is very high in San Francisco — 
they immediately ship immense quantities. Probably 
all their cargoes will arrive about the same time. The 
market is glutted; yet they must sell, for the expenses 
of a ship lying alongside of a wharf in this city are 
enormous. Probably the only ones that make any- 
thing out of the transaction are the jobbers; or, in 
some instances, the merchants to whom the cargoes 
may be consigned. If their instructions are to sell 
with as little delay as possible, and the market is dull, 
they sometimes buy in cargoes themselves, and by 
holding on awhile occasionally reap large profits. 

Sometimes they find it profitable to reship it to the 
States, as in a recent instance, several ship loads of 
flour were sent to San Francisco. At the time of ship- 
ment it was buying in the latter place at forty dollars 
per barrel, and only worth seven dollars in New York. 
It was the average time of four months on the passage 
around Cape Horn. Its price in the meantime had gone 
down to seven dollars in San Francisco, and up to 



2l6 JOURNAL OF 

fifteen dollars in New York. The consignees, accord- 
ing to instructions, sold it, but bought it themselves, 
and reshipping it to the same place whence it came, 
realized a handsome profit. Whether they acted in 
good faith to the original shippers I can't say. At all 
events the Eastern merchants have to stand the brunt of 
most of the losses from wild speculations in California. 
It is high time for them to grow wiser by experience. 

All nations are represented in San Francisco, but 
particularly the Jews. There are all grades of these — 
from the most respectable merchant, or professional 
man, down to the mock auction dealer. It is amusing 
to stroll down some of the streets after gas-light, and 
witness the various methods adopted by the latter class 
of merchants to drum up customers. A common de- 
vice, is to start a band of music until a large crowd is 
collected, then for the mock auctioneer to mount the 
stand and bid off the goods as if it were really a bona 
fide auction. They thus gull large numbers of that 
class of people who deem everything bought at public 
auction must be cheap. 

Occasionally, one of the initiated will step up to the 
auctioneer, and handing him a watch, request it to be 
sold, as he is pressed for money. The watch is 
accordingly knocked down to the highest bidder; who, 
when it is probably too late, discovers his magnificent 
gold lever (seventeen jewels), to be brass. Many a 
poor sailor is thus bamboozled out of his money; and 
the most strenuous exertions of the police are generally 
powerless to find out the perpetrators, from the fact that 
the poor dupe is usually unable to designate the pre- 
cise house that sold the article. This is destined to be 



/i/^A/V LIFk. 217 

a large and beautiful city; its suburbs, particularly 
towards the Mission, are superb. 

Fort Orforu, Oregon Territory, June 24th, 1855. 

Leaving San Francisco on the morning of the eight- 
eenth instant, we reached here on the evening of the 
2 1st, after a tedious and boisterous voyage of nearly four 
days. The northwest head winds were so strong that 
we only averaged about two and a half miles per 
hour. On the last day out, the vessel rolled and 
pitched terribly; of course most everybody was sea- 
sick. Although so unwell as to be compelled to as- 
sume the recumbent posture while on deck, yet I 
greatly enjoyed the scene; for surely nothing is so 
sublime as the upheaving of the mighty deep in a 
storm. The eale be^an on the nio^ht of the 20th. We 
were suddenly awakened, and almost tossed out of our 
berths by a tremendous lurch and crash of the vessel; 
leading many to suppose she "had struck." I stood 
it, however, with great equanimity, as a sea-sick man 
will always do. When daylight dawned the sight was 
^rand beyond description — the ocean was lashed by 
the wind in a terrible commotion — the billows rolled 
and swelled aloft as if bent on the destruction of our 
vessel; but of this there was not the least apprehension, 
as we all had had sufficient sea experience to know 
how difficult it is to sink a staunch ship. Her sea- 
sawing motions were sometimes so rapid as to almost 
take our breath. When struck by a cross-sea away 
would go chairs, basins and dishes. Our room-mate 
of the lower bunk was really to be pitied on one occa- 
sion of this kind. There the poor fellow lay so sick 



2l8 JOURNAL OF 

that he couldn't rise, when a sudden lurch capsized a 
bucket of filthy water, that the waiter was cleaning the 
room with, all over him. Although commiserating 
his pitiful condition I could not help congratulating my- 
self on having procured a middle berth — secure from 
such accidents. Of course everthing that can be, is 
fastened down on a ship. For instance the tables, 
and seats for the same, are secured; but it is impracti- 
cable to tie down things which it is necessary to move 
constantly. The dining-table is usually covered with 
a movable frame-work to retain the dishes in their 
places; this arrangement did not suffice in the present 
instance. 

As usual, we had some very pleasant, and a few ex- 
ceedingly disagreeable persons aboard. There was a 
gentleman belonging to the profession of Civil Engi- 
neers, en route for Oregon, to secure a contract for sur- 
veying. Unfortunately for himself and fellow-passen- 
gers, he was very much intoxicated, and, hence, dis- 
posed to give full play to the expression of his thoughts, 
which being sarcastic, and generally personal, rendered 
his society very undesirable. He usually began his 
conversation by preaching forth his wonderful acquire- 
ments, which, according to his own estimation, were 
vast indeed. He harped principally upon the Govern- 
ment and her officials, civil, not military, and particu- 
larly the Surveyor-General of California, Major Jack 
Hays — who came in for the largest share of abuse; but 
unluckily for his auditors, he was prone before the con- 
clusion of his discourse to identify them with the per- 
petrators of all his wrongs. One unfortunate fellow 
was disposed to quiz him, and this brought down upon 



ARMY LIFE. 



219 



himself the most sarcastic abuse I have ever heard. 
This gentleman was bald-pated and small-headed, and 
havingjust crossed the Isthmus, had his face burned to 
a blister. Mr. L consequently possessed a fruit- 
ful theme of discourse on phrenology. He began by 
asking his subject if he possessed any knowledge of 
this science or any other, and then laid down as his 
first proposition that men of his cranial conformation 
never had any intelligence ; upon which he dilated 
with great volubility, to the merriment of every one. 
We could only " laugh in our sleeves," as the fellow's 
abuse was intolerable, and ought to have been promptly 
checked by the Captain^ in order to prevent a disturb- 
ance. Fortunately, the abused gentleman set it all 
down to King Alcohol, probably deeming himself a 
little to blame, and bore it like a martyr — knowing, 
also, that a single word to Capt. Dall would have been 
the means of sendinof the intoxicated individual from 
the cabin to the steerage, as a nuisance. The Captain 
was on the eve of doing this anyway, as the man's im- 
pertinence ran wild; but he finally toned him down by 
taking away his liquor, and, giving him a dose of mor- 
phine, put him to sleep. Next morning he was sober, 
but awfully sea-sick; so we saw no more of his honor. 
Near the Golden Gate was pointed out to us the 
spot where a splendid steamer was wrecked in 1851, 
on attempting to enter the harbor of San Francisco in 
a dense foof. We touched at Trinidad and Crescent 
City; the latter is a thriving little village. It is about 
three hundred miles from San Francisco, and sixty-two 
from Fort Orford. We also passed the mouth of 
Rogue River, famous for its Indian war in 1853. 



!20 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XVI. 

AT FORT ORFORD, OREGON. 

Climate, Mines, etc., of the Oregon Coast — In Command of the Post, and Fire a 
National Salute — Conflict between Indian and Whites on " Battle Rock." — 
Fish and Game. 

Fort Orford, Oregon Territory, June 29ih, 1855. 

LANDING at this post on the twenty-first of this 
month, after a long and tedious sea voyage^ via the 
Isthmus, and a short delay in California, I was vividly 
impressed with the exhilarating and health-inspiring 
influence of the air. The evergreen forests of spruce, 
fir, and cedar, which are still standing in all their prime- 
val loveliness and grandeur, associated in a few places 
with the beautiful rhododendron, and the sweet-scented 
myrtle, covering mountains and vales, give a novelty 
and charm to the landscape unsurpassed by anything 
of the kind ever seen by me before. 

The summer months here are delightfully cool and 
pleasant, but the other three seasons are checkered 
with fogs, cold winds, and storms of rain, and occa- 
sionally of snow. The lightning's flash and the loud 
thunder's rattle are in summer unseen and unheard; 
but the intermittino; roar of old Ocean's waves dashinor 
at regular intervals against the rock-bound shore, in- 
spires one continually with the grandeur and sublimity 
of the scene. 

This fort is in latitude, 42 deg. 44 min. 27 sec. 
north; and longitude, 124 deg. 28 min, 52 sec. west. 



ARMY LIFE. 2 2 I 

On reference to the Meteorological Observations of 
the post, I find there are in the course of a year i8o 
fair, 1 86 cloudy, and 122 rainy days, with one day of 
snow. The mean temperature of spring is 52^00 deg.; 
of summer, ^'^H^ deg.; of autumn 54,^0^ deg.; and of 
winter 50^^ deg.; and of the year, 53/60 of Fahrenheit. 
The average rainfall is in spring — idllo inches; in sum- 
mer, ill^ inches; in autumn, 22^^^^ inches; in winter, 
32/0^0 inches, and for the year, 75, °o inches. The ther- 
mometer ranges between 79 deg. in summer, to 30 deg. 
above zero in winter. The climate is remarkably 
healthy; there are no malarious diseases. The soil is 
good except near the beach, but not very productive 
of such fruits and cereals as require warm summers. 

Such garden vegetables as cabbages and potatoes 
thrive well; tomatoes, melons and corn hardly ever 
come to maturity. Peaches, plums, cherries, pears, 
grapes and such like fruits can not be raised to advan- 
tage. To wild berries, fruits, game and fish I shall 
make allusion further on after a personal inspection of 
the country — grass in this region is green throughout 
the entire year. 

The principal rivers near here are the Coquille, 
thirty miles north; Elk, four miles north; and Rogue 
River, thirty miles south. The second mentioned 
stream received its name from the large herds of elk 
which range along its bottom lands. Elk meat is 
more largely consumed here as an article of food than 
beef — it is nearly as good, and much cheaper; it sells 
at from twelve to eighteen cents per pound, whereas 
good beef is worth twenty-five cents per pound. 

There are two traditions as to the origin of the name 



222 JOURNAL OF 

of the last mentioned river. Some assert that it took 
its appellation from the roguish propensities of the 
Indians living on its borders; whilst others maintain 
that rogue is a corruption of the French word rouge 
(or red) signifying red river, because some of its prin- 
cipal head branches are always turbid from a mixture 
of reddish clay and sand stirred up in the mining dis- 
tricts. 

Adjoining the Military Reservation of this fort, is a 
little village called Port Orford, which was located or 
laid out in 1850, during the mania upon the subject of 
town sites. Having the best port between San Fran- 
cisco and the Columbia River, it was thought to be an 
admirable spot for a large city, but like many similar 
attempts, it has proven a failure. For notwithstand- 
inor the additional advantao^es of o-old having since been 
discovered along the sand beach for many miles above 
and below the town, and of the touching here of a 
regular mail steamer every fortnight, it still numbers 
only about forty houses, and one-third of these are 
tenantless. It has a good summer harbor, as the wind 
during this season is from the northwest; but in the 
autumn, winter and early part of spring, it is generally 
very dangerous for vessels to attempt to "lie to" in 
the harbor, or even to enter it, as the prevailing winds 
are then from the south, southwest, and southeast. 
The expenditure by the Government, some of these 
days, of a few millions of dollars, for a breakwater, 
will make this a magnificent harbor of refuge for our 
naval and merchant vessels, when overtaken b)- storms 
on the Northern Pacific coast. 

Our post is nearly surrounded by a dense forest — 



AJ?A/y LIFE. 223 

but has an expansive view of the Pacific Ocean in front. 
It is cut off from the beautiful Rogue River, and Wil- 
lamette valleys, by the coast range of mountains — 
some spurs and peaks of which are very high. One 
of the highest points in our vicinity is " Humbug Moun- 
tain" — receiving its name from a false report of the 
discovery of rich gold diggings on it. 

This whole coast, from San Francisco to the Russian 
Possessions, is thickly wooded — the principal trees are 
fir, cypress and cedar; the latter is only found at inter- 
vals. It makes much the best lumber, as it does not 
shrink and swell alternately with the dry or wet 
weather so much as the two other kinds, and is more 
durable, and makes far the best finish. It is quite 
abundant near this place; its market value is three or 
four times as much as fir or spruce. There are three 
saw-mills here, only one of which is at present run- 
ninor — the others are idle for the want of water. The 

o 

one in operation is a steam mill, and turns out daily an 
average of fifty-five hundred feet of plank, besides 
many thousand laths; it employs twenty-five hands. 
Sawmilling is another example of our speculation. 
From 1847 to 1852, there was great demand for lum- 
ber, especially in San Francisco, which was then being 
built up of frame houses; but after the great fires there 
in '50 and '52, a more substantial class of buildings 
was erected of stone and brick — lumber was, conse- 
quently, in but slight demand. Its supply had, in the 
mean time, increased about twenty-fold, as a large num- 
ber of persons had been induced by the enormous prices 
of two hundred and six hundred dollars per one thousand 
feet, to erect saw-mills; it is now a drug in the market. 



2 24 JOURNAL Of 

Twelve months ago there was great excitement in 
regard to the discovery of gold near this place; as is 
usual under such circumstances large numbers of peo- 
ple flocked here — the majority of whom went away 
disappointed. The beach for many miles below and 
above this point has gold in It, and in some places 
"pays well." They who secure average claims, in 
point of richness, and work them properly, clear from 
two to seven dollars per day; but the great drawback 
to miners here is, that they won't let well enough 
alone — they are constantly leaving old claims that 
yield moderately well, to look out for better. More- 
over, though naturally shrewd, they are easily hum- 
bugged into some castle-building, money-making, min- 
ing-operation, that promises everything and accom- 
plishes nothing; particularly if the imposter be a for- 
eigner, and possess some knowledge of chemical jug- 
glery — being able by a few tricks, to convince his 
dupes that he has discovered some wonderful method 
of separating gold dust from sand, by causing it to unite 
more readily with mercury than by the common pro- 
cess, he succeeds in organizing a stock-mining company, 
which is to give him one third or half of the profits; 
thus making a very profitable operation for himself, 
even by the ordinary methods of mining, so long as he 
can keep his dupes in the dark, and hold his company 
together. There is a Monsieur C. at present humbug- 
ging some twelve or fourteen persons in this way. 
The affair is, however, about reaching a climax, and he 
will doubtless soon have to leave "these diggings," as 
he did those of Rogue River a short time ago. Vive 
la bagatelle. 



ARMY LIFE. 225 

Miners in this Territory and California are governed 
in their operations by what is termed the Mining Law; 
which, although agreeing in its general features, varies 
somewhat in its details in different districts. This law 
is a system of regulations formed by the miners them- 
selves, and at one time governed them in almost every- 
thing criminal and civil, but is at present limited to a 
few points only— such as the right of ownership to 
claims, and the extent of ground each man is allowed 
by pre-emption. At some places each person is per- 
mitted to take up a claim of three hundred feet front, 
by fifty or one hundred deep; in others, not more than 
one half of this extent is granted. This only refers to 
pre-emption right, that is, the title to mineral land con- 
ferred by virtue of havi^ig first "■ squatted on it." One 
has the privilege oi buying as many claims as he pleases. 

There is not a more healthy spot on the globe than 
Fort Orford — the only diseases here are the result of 
some species of intemperance. Indeed, were it not for 
an occasional accident there would be no need of a 
physician at this post; more particularly as the com= 
mand is so small — -being only a detachment of twenty- 
five men (Company M, Third, Artillery), commanded 
by Lieutenant A. V. Kautz, Fourth Infantry. I had 
more cases of sickness to attend in one day at Fort 
Arbuckle, during the sickly season, than I would be 
likely to have here in a whole year. 

Fort Orford, July 4th, 1855. 

As Lieutenant A. V. Kautz is absent on detached 
service I am in command of the post, and have just 
had the pleasure of firing a national salute of thirty 



226 JOURNAL OF 

one guns. To be able to appreciate our national great- 
ness, one should travel over the Union and behold fur 
himself the immense extent of territory now embraced 
in our mighty Republic; which possesses every variety 
of soil and climate, and more natural resources, gen- 
erally, than that of any other nation on the globe; and 
inhabited by a people vigorous, intellectual^ brave and 
indomitably persevering. Our past history has been 
a miracle to the nations of the old world; and our 
prospects are still more glorious. Could our fore- 
fathers have seen the fruits of the o-lorious cause for 
which they laid down their lives, their dying couches 
would have been replete with all the joy that earth 
can afford. May we never cease to commemorate 
this day, and to offer up thanksgiving to the Ruler of 
Heaven and Earth for his helping hand to our ancestors 
in the hour of their greatest distress. In the language 
of the poet I may conclude: 

" Lives there a man with soul so dead 
Who never to himself hath said, 
This is my own, my native land ?" 

July ^tk, 1333. — We are hourly looking for the 
steamer "Columbia;" she always touches here, and 
leaves the mail, both going and returning. On her last 
trip down there were some four or five army officers 
on board — some of whom have recently received ap- 
pointments in the new regiments. Among others were 
Captain Stoneman, Captain Whiting and Lieutenant 
Williams. Major Henry Prince, with some two hun- 
dred and thirty-one U. S. troops, destined for Fort 
Vancouver, will probably be up on the next steamer. 
The one they started in, the "America," was burnt on 



ARMY LIFE. 



227 



last Sunday night week, whilst stopping for a short 
time at Crescent City. She was totally destroyed. 

In order to protect our immense western frontier, 
Congress passed a bill last session, adding four new 
regiments to the army — two of cavalry, and two of- 
infantry. These are being rapidly filled up, and will 
probably be ready for the field next spring. Our troops 
in New Mexico are kept constantly in active service — 
the Apache Indian being very troublesome. An 
expedition of several regiments, under General Harney, 
has been ordered on the plains west of Kansas and 
Nebraska to quell Indian depredations. The Sioux 
have been very troublesome there within the last 
twelve months. 

In California and Oregon disturbances occasionally 
occur between the settlers and Indians — a few years 
ago they were quite frequent. Then there were sev- 
eral fights in this vicinity — Captain x\ldin, U. S. Army, 
was wounded in one of those ena-acrements near Rogrue 
River. Six miners were killed in another encounter 
on the Coquille. Shortly after this last affair, the 
miners in a large body went against the Indians, and 
killed some fifteen of them. 

Within a hundred yards of garrison, and a short dis- 
tance from shore, is a rock known as "Battle Rock," 
receiving its name from a contest which took place 
there in 1850, between some Americans and Indians. 
The former had intended landing with the view of 
selecting a town site, but finding the latter hostile, 
took up their position on the above rock, whilst their 
vessel — Captain Tichner's schooner — returned to San 
Francisco for reinforcements. The Indians made nu- 



2 28 JOURNAL OF 

merous attacks on the place for ten or twelve days, 
but being repulsed with heavy losses, finally abandoned 
the idea of dislodo^ine the whites from their secure 
retreat. The rock being some twenty yards from 
shore, was rather inaccessible. A small cannon that 
the whites had was used with much success; and assist- 
ed more than anything else in frightening the Indians. 
The loss of the latter was ten or twelve. None of the 
former killed — a few slightly wounded. The whole 
party, consisting of only nine men, finally made their 
escape into Umpqua \'alley. 

July nth, 1S55' — The "Columbia" passed up last 
Friday, and has just gone down — having on board sev- 
eral army officers; some of whom are on their way 
to New York. Among others Lieutenant Myers and 
Dr. Luckley. A friend of ours, Mr. L. Blanding, of 
San Francisco, who has been spending a few days 
with us, also took passage in her this morning. Being 
a lawyer of some eminence, and possessing agreeable 
manners, his visit was very welcome to this lovely 
place. Our associates in this neighborhood are few 
indeed. 

July z^tJi, iSjj. — Lieutenant Kautz and I went a 
fishing yesterday in Elk River, and caught a lot of 
splendid trout. There are two species of this delicious 
fish in Oregon; one, called the mountain trout — being 
the same as the speckled or brook trout of the North- 
ern States; and the other the salmon trout. The 
former abound in the clear mountain streams, and 
small fresh water lakes; the latter in the rivers and 



AJ^MV LIFE. 229 

lakes near the ocean. The salmon trout are much 
larger than the mountain trout, and are very closeh' 
allied to the salmon itself. 

This being a heavily timbered country there are, 
of course, very few flowers. I see no familiar ones ex- 
cept the yarrow, wild tansy, and strawberry; there is 
also a specie of wild clover which grows ver}- abund- 
antly. Of fruits we have the salmon-berry, thimble- 
berry, and sal-lalle berry. The latter resembles in ap- 
pearance and taste a large variety of the huckle-berry, 
and affords a very delicious dessert. The thimble- 
berry is almost exactly like the raspberry in size and 
appearance, but grows on a larger and less prickly 
bush. Salmon-berries grow on very large shrubs, and 
are named from their color. They are similar in size 
and shape to blackberries, but not quite so palatable. 

Game is very scarce in this neighborhood. The 
deer and elk have been frightened back into the mount- 
ains; there are a few, however, remaining. A friend 
has a very large pair of elk horns. It w^as a problem 
to me how the elk could run through the bushes with 
such immense appendages, but after seeing in what 
way they are adapted to the head I became convinced 
of their advantage — they are sloped backwards so as 
protect the head, neck and body from the thickets, 
A few panthers, martins, black bears, and otters, rriay 
be seen occasionally. There are two varieties of the 
latter animal — the land and sea otter. The skin of the 
latter is much the more valuable. There are some 
wolves or coyotes, but they are not often seen, and are 
not very troublesome, except in winter, when they 
lurk around the dwellings. Two varieties of foxes are 

O 



230 JOURNAL OF 

also occasionally seen — the common gray and the sil- 
ver gray; the last variety is prized very highly for its 
beautiful skin. A few squirrels, principally the small 
gray. 

There are fewer birds here than at any place I have 
ever been. There are pine hens, quail, partridges 
(Maryland pheasant) and pigeons — and ducks and 
geese in winter. The harbor is dotted with sea birds — 
such as didappers, gulls and pelicans. There is also a 
large tishing hawk of the eagle species, with a white 
head, white on tips of tail and wings, and dark body. 
The pine hen is so called from always being found in 
the pine woods. It is almost identical with the prairie 
hen of the States immediately east of the Rocky 
Mountains; it is also known as the blue grouse. I 
have noticed a very beautiful bird called the blue jay — 
it resembles very closely the jay bird of the Middle 
States; but its plumage is of a much darker and more 
brilliant hue. The humming-bird, sparrow, cedar-bird 
and robin are also to be seen. 



AH MY LIFE. 



231 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FORT ORFORD CONTINUED. 

About Mining — " Drop Riffle" — Mining Excitements — Confidential Humbugs — 
Reticent and Lucky Miners — "For God's sake, hurry; the Lieutenant is 
shot.'' 

JULY 22D, 1855. — The steamer "Columbia" stopped 
here on the evening- of the twentieth. Lieuten- 
ants G. H. Derby and Alexander Piper, U. S. Army, 
were on board en route for Fort Vancouver. The 
former gentleman belongs to the topographical engi- 
neers, and is quite celebrated as a witty writer. His 
productions are usually published in a California mag- 
azine called the " Pioneer." He informs us of the 
death of Captain J. L. Folsom, Assistant Quarter- 
master^ U. S. Army. He died on last Tuesday even- 
ing. He leaves a large estate. 

Lieutenant Kautz has involved himself in a civil 
suit for putting a civilian, who had been creating dis- 
tubances among the Indians on the government re- 
serve, in the guardhouse; he confined him six days. 
The civil authorities have brought a suit for false im- 
prisonment against him. He left this morning to 
attend his trial at Coos Bay. I am consequently in 
command of the post. This not being a proper duty 
of the medical staff, we only exercise it in the absence 
of all line officers. Our rank avails us in everything 
else but commanding. It holds good on all councils, 
boards, courtmartial, and in selection of quarters, etc. 



232 JOURNAL OF 

Mr. Henry Tichenor and myself accompanied Mr. 
Kautz some ten miles up the coast. On our return 
we passed Cape Blanco, the most western portion of 
the United States territory. There are some forty 
miners engaged in digging gold dust on the beach at 
that point. 

The gold is found disseminated in finely divided 
particles in the sand; and is separated by running the 
latter through a machine, consisting of a "long tom," 
and "drop riffle." The former is a wooden trough 
three feet broad, six feet long, and two inches deep, 
with a plate of sheet iron at one end perforated with 
several hundred holes. This is placed so as to form 
an inclined plane. At its lower end, and partly under 
it, is the "drop riffle." This consists of two side 
pieces holding a number of open boxes, one above 
and behind tJie other, like a stairway. In each of 
these boxes is a gate corresponding to the "rise" in 
a step, which can be elevated or lowered so as to be 
brought any required distance from the surface of the 
mercury in the cell of the box. A stream of water is 
let upon the "long tom," and the coarse sand thrown 
in by shovels full. The finer portions of it are washed 
through the sieve-like end of the "tom," and carried 
over the surface of the mercury in the "drop rififle." 
The same being brought in close contact with the 
mercury by means of the sliding gate or drop-board, 
its gold dust is thus more readily united with this 
metal, forming what is called an amalgam. When 
the mercury is sufficiently impregnated, it is poured 
into iron pans and the gold allowed to settle. The 
sediment is then placed in a linen bag and com- 



AJ^A/V LIFE. 



233 



pressed; thus separating another portion of the mer- 
cury. The remainder is termed "amalgam proper," 
which contains about forty per centum of gold. The 
final step in the process is to place this into a retort, 
and by means of heat evaporate all the mercury. By 
this process very little of the latter is injured by oxi- 
dation, and it can, of course, be used again. 

A constant supply of water is, in this mode of 
mining, necessary; and when it cannot be obtained 
from a stream sufficiently high to be conducted to the 
"tom" through a wooden trough, it is got from a 
shallow well by means of a carrying pump, worked 
either by horse or steam power — usually the former. 
There are some claims at Cape Blanco which " turn 
out very well." The best belong to a Mr. Coffee, 
who is said to be running through one machine, 
where are employed only three or four hands, about 
fifty dollars a day. And this, too, a regular thing. 

The sand beach differs materially from what are 
termed solid or quartz diggings in the regularity of 
finding gold. In the latter it is frequently necessary 
to work five and six months without getting a grain, 
then perhaps a vein is struck which turns out hundreds 
of dollars a day for a short time. But sometimes a 
shaft is sunk at an enormous expense without yielding 
anything. These shafts are usually sunk in the side of 
a hill, down to a level with the bed of a stream where 
gold dust has been found in the sand. The object is 
to strike the original bed of gold. The gold on the 
beach is also much finer than that found in the placer 
diggings in the interior of Oregon and California. 

It is very easy to get up an excitement about gold 



2 34 JOURNAL OF 

digg-ings in this country. The last steamer was 
crowded with passengers for the newly discovered 
mines at Fort Colville in Washington Territory; they 
are represented as being vastly rich. There is doubt- 
less much gold in that region, but, judging from the 
manner in which such things usually terminate in this 
country, about one half of those on their way there 
will return in a few months utterly disappointed; for 
the richness of mines is always exaggerated by specu- 
lators. Without going any further we will take Fort 
Orford as an average case, by way of illustration. 
About fourteen months ago a party of five or six 
men discovered gold at a place now called "Jackson's 
Diggings," some thirty miles from this place. They 
worked five or six weeks, but secured barely enough 
to compensate them for their trouble. However, they 
were determined on making a speculation out of it, 
So after securing their claims they managed to return 
here just about the time the steamer stopped on her 
way to San Francisco. Knowing that if they ex- 
hibited the gold publicly everybody would accuse 
them of trying to get up an excitement for specula- 
tion, it was at first confidentially shown to a few 
persons, who divulged the matter to their particular 
friends, and they in turn to theirs, until everybody 
learned the wonderful secret. It was represented that 
this gold was found after a single day's work. In a 
few hours everybody who could get away from Fort 
Orford were on their way to the mines. The mer- 
chants of this place assisted in the furor. Of course 
the steamship carried down glowing accounts of the 
richness of the mines. And 'tis said that the agents 



I 



ARMY LIFE. 235 

of the line got up flaming hand-bills, which were 
posted through the streets of San Francisco. It at 
least turned out gold for them; for their ship was 
crowded with passengers as long as the bubble lasted. 
Persons arrived here by hundreds; purchased pans, 
shovels and picks; and, for the want of other con- 
veyance, started for the magic spot on foot. The 
majority being city clerks, and others of that class, 
who had never walked a half day in their lives, 
soon began to break down, and consequently to 
throw away such articles as they thought could be 
best spared. About every third man would say to 
his party, "Well, we want only one pick, I am going 
to throw mine away." 

On arriving they found gold, it is true, but not 
enough to pay the cost of the claims. So the little 
bubble bursted. The discoverers, the merchants, and 
steamship company, being the only parties who made 
anything. At the present time there are not more 
than a dozen persons working at the place. In the 
significant cant of the country the "diggings have 
gone in." 

Now for a story somewhat different, but still illus- 
trative of the ruse de guerre constantly practiced in 
this country. A party of three men came here a 
short time after the above excitement, and went to 
work at Cape Blanco, the place spoken of above as 
being within eight miles of this place. After work- 
ing a few days they came to the village and purchased 
a few articles on credit, with a promise to pay on the 
following week. At the appointed time the first bill 
was settled, and another contracted with the same 



2':6 JOURNAL OF 



limitation as to the time of settlement. Thus they 
worked on, as it were, from hand to mouth; and when 
asked how they were doing, replied, '' wall, we guess 
we are makinof a livinof but it is better to do this than 
starve." 

At the expiration of some seven months these men 
came to the village with thirty thousand dollars, which 
they had got out at that spot; sold their claims at an 
exorbitant price, and left the country. The purchasers 
found the claims pretty well exhausted; and by the 
process then in operation could not make them pay 
well. But since the introduction of the drop riffle 
they are made to yield, on re-working, pretty good 
wages. And, by prospecting in the neighborhood, 
some of the miners have found new places, which 
turn out handsomely. As, for instance, that of Mr. 
Coffee's, alluded to above. 

Fort Orford, July 25th, 1855. 
The steamer "Columbia," Captain William Dall, 
touched here this morning on her downward passage; 
brinofs o-lorious accounts of the orold mines at Fort 
Colville. Almost all the settlers in the upper part 
of Oregon, and in Washington Territories, have 
started for the mines. Of course all the vessels 
bound from San Francisco to Oregon will, for the 
next four months, be crowded with passengers in- 
flated with golden dreams. 

August 2d, 2833' — There has been a coolness exist- 
ing between Lieutenant K., of this post, and two per- 
sons in the village, named Smith and Sutton — the 
former a lawyer, the latter Justice of the Peace. Lieu- 



ARMY LIFE. 



237 



tenant K. started for the town to-day after dinner, and 
being apprehensive of an rencounter, took with him a 
large cane. In a short time thereafter the constable of 
the place, Seth Lount, came running to garrison in 
great perturbation, and begged me, for God's sake, to 
hurry down town, as the Lieutenant had been shot 
through the heart by Justice Sutton. My first impulse 
was to order a corporal's guard to assist in arresting 
the perpetrator of the deed, but as a few moments' delay 
might be the death of my friend, I of course hurried to 
him first. To my astonishment, on arriving I found 
him sitting up in a chair as composed as if nothing had 
happened. The whole town had concentrated there in 
the meantime. 

On inquiry, I learned that S had commenced a 

quarrel with K , and in the course of it had used 

language which the latter had construed into being 
called a liar, whereupon he raised his cane with the in- 
tention of striking the former, who drew a pistol and 
fired. Lieutenant K. immediately dropped on the floor, 
and on being picked up placed his hand over his heart. 
The bystanders, thinking the shot had taken effect in his 
chest, immediately sent for me. It was discovered in 
the meantime that the ball had not struck him — and, 
probably, not even grazed him. From where the ball 
hit the floor it is impossible that it could have passed 
higher up than the pelvis. Still, the expansive force of 
the gasses, generated by the combustion of the charge 
cf powder in the gun, striking against the pit of the 
stomach, may have had something to do with the 
result. The most reasonable solution of the problem, 
however, is, that it was a nervous shock produced by 



238 • JOURNAL OF 

the mental certainty that, if fired at with the pistol 
almost touching his body, death would be inevitable- 
The following is a case in point, taken from Guthrie's 
Military Szirgery: 

"During a rapid advance of part of the British 
Army in Portugal, one of the skirmishers suddenly 
came upon his adversary, with only a small bank be- 
tween them; both parties presented, the muzzles of the 
pieces nearly touching; both fired, and both fell. The 
British soldier after a minute or two, thinking himself 
hit, but still finding himself capable of moving, got up, 
and found his adversary dead — on the opposite side of 
the bank. I saw him immediately afterwards in consid- 
erable alarm, being conscious of a blow somewhere, 
but which after a diligent search, proved to be only a 
graze on the under side of the arm; yet the certainty 
he was in of being killed, from the respective position of 
the parties, had such an effect upon him at the moment 
of receiving this trifling injury, as nearly to deprive 
him, for a short time, of his powers of volition; where- 
as, had the wound been received from a concealed 
or distant enemy, it would in all probability have been 
little noticed." 

August 23d, 1855- — Captain T. J. Cram, U. S. To- 
pographical Engineer; Dr. Hubbard; and Mr. Wells, 
editor of the Alta Calif 07"nia, arrived on the "Colum- 
bia" this morning. Mr. W. having traveled all over 
the world, is an exceedingly well informed and enter- 
taining gentleman. Captain C. was a fellow passenger 
on our trip from New York, and we are, of course, 
highly delighted to see him. He has come up simply 



ARMY LIFE. 



239 



on a visit. The other gentlemen are engaged in a 
coal speculation at Coos Bay. This mineral has been 
found there in large quantities; and of very good qual- 
ity. It has also been discovered in other parts of this 
Territory, and is likely to turn out a handsome specu- 
lation to those who first succeed in bringing it to mar- 
ket, as all the coal heretofore used on this coast has 
been brought from the Eastern States or England. 

I perceive that the rumor, heard here a few weeks 
since of Indian troubles on the Klamath River, has 
been confirmed. There were eleven white men killed 
by the Indians at last accounts. The origin of the 
difficulty was on the part of a few drunken Indians, 
who attempted to maltreat some white men. 

August 26th, 1855' — General Joel Palmer, Superin- 
tendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon, and Dr. Drew, 
sub-agent, arrived here on the twenty-fourth instant, 
and left this morning for Rogue River to hold a 
council with the Indians of this coast, with a view of 
forming a treaty with them for the purchase of their 
possessory rights to the soil, and their removal to an 
Indian Reserve to be set apart for them higher up the 
coast. 



240 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

INDIAN COUNCIL ON ROGUE RIVER. 

Indian Council — A Disturbance — Two Indians and Three Whites killed — Modes, 
Habits, etc., of the Indians. 

Fort Orford, Washington Territory, Sept. 2d, 1855. 

nrnr AVING received a dispatch from General Pal- 
-J — L mer that a disturbance had occurred between the 
miners and Indians near the council grounds on Rogue 
river, Lieutenant Kautz and myself repaired thither, 
and returned on the first instant. 

Leaving Fort Orford on the twenty-ninth ultimo, 
we arrived on the "ground" the same evening, after 
a journey of thirty miles over the roughest road I 
have ever traveled. For two thirds of the distance 
the rider is in constant peril of neck and limb. Woe 
to him if his animal makes a misstep ; his journey to 
the bottom of some gorge would excel the velocity 
of steam. At one place it is necessary to ride across 
a stream on a log — a short, broad one, it is true, 
but still a log, and should your horse make a care- 
less step a heavy tumble would be the consequence 
at least. In traveling up one mountain gorge it is 
necessary to cross a creek seventeen times in a 
distance of about four miles. The trail then turns 
abruptly westward, and the broad Pacific lies before, 
and three hundred feet beneath us. Yes, literally 
beneath us; for its bank is perpendicular, and the 
trail within three feet of its brink. The view is 



ARMY LIFE. 



241 



grand. Niagara itself, ot which the roaring breakers 
below remind us, is not more sublime. 

Again the road meanders through the mountains 
for a few miles, and then descends to the water's 
edge. It now continues for a few miles along the 
sand beach, which is admirable traveling at low tide. 
Here are to be seen thousands of gulls, ducks and 
pelicans. We were much amused at some of the 
latter, who had gormandized to such an extent that 
they could scarcely skim the waves. One old fellow 
was unable to surmount more than a single breaker at 
a time, and would occasionally be struck by its foaming 
crest and launched far in the rear. There is some 
mining done along this portion of the beach, but not 
much, except at the mouth of Rogue river. The 
gold is distributed in such minute particles through 
the sand that but little can be got out by the ordinary 
mining process. This whole coast for a hundred 
miles in extent will, however, be an immense field 
for mining some twenty years hence, when labor 
becomes cheaper, and machinery more perfect. 

The council ground was located in a beautiful 
myrtle grove on the south bank of Rogue river, three 
miles from its mouth. The object of the council was 
to form a treaty with the various bands of Indians be- 
longing to the Port Orford district, with the view of 
settling them, together with all other bands and tribes 
living on the coast of Oregon, on an Indian reserve; 
that is, a tract of land set aside for them exclusively — 
on which the whites are not permitted to reside. This 
system of disposing of the Indians has been for many 
years adopted by our government. It is the only plan 



242 JOURNAL OF 

to prevent their entire extermination. The manner in 
which it is carried out is too well known to require 
description. That some system of this kind is re- 
quisite is but too painfully felt by every man of sensi- 
bility and intelligence, who has ever been in our new 
Territories and seen how badly the Indians and whites 
get along together. This is more apparent on our 
Pacific coast than east of the Rocky Mountains. For 
the excitement of the gold mines has filled California 
and portions of Oregon more rapidly than any other 
parts of the United States Territory, and, consequently, 
brought the whites and Indians in more frequent 
conflict. 

The donation act of Congress, which grants to 
actual settlers from one hundred and sixty to six hun- 
dred and forty acres of land — the amount varying 
according as certain provisions in the Act are com- 
plied with — when and wherever they choose to locate 
it, without having previously extinguished the Indian 
title, is another prolific source of trouble peculiar to 
Oregon Territory; hence the difficulties are innu- 
merable. And what makes matters worse, some of the 
rougher class of miners will submit to no control in 
their intercourse with the Indians. 

If an Indian steals anything from, or hurts one of 
these persons, his life is generally the forfeit. The 
Indians around here formerly acted upon the same 
principle, but their frequent conflicts with the whites 
have so intimidated them that they are now generally 
inclined to peace. They have sufficient bad and des- 
perate fellows among them, however, to keep their 
bands in constant difficulty. 



ARMY LIFE. 243 

An instance occurred during the session of the 
council of a most painful character — the more so as it 
terminated in the death of three American citizens, 
together with two Indians, and came within an ace of 
not only breaking up all further negotiations with the 
Indians, but of bringing on another Rogue River 
war. The circumstances are these : 

An Indian and a white man had a quarrel, which 
resulted in the latter being wounded in the shoulder 
by the former. The Indian fled. Captain Ben. Wright, 
a sub-Indian Agent, being on the treaty ground for 
the purpose of assembling the Indians preparatory for 
the treaty, happening to hear of the difficulty, and 
wishing to prevent further bloodshed, went personally 
and arrested the Indian with the view of having him 
properly tried, and punishing him for his misdemeanor if 
found guilty. At night, whilst he, some others, and 
the prisoner, were lying asleep in a small shanty, a 
shot was fired by an unknown person, which shattered 
the prisoner's arm. Wright having dressed his wounds, 
placed him between himself and the wall; thus, with 
his own person, affording protection to the Indian. 
The night passed off quietly, but as it was evident 
that the populace intended getting forcible possession 
of him in the morning with the view of hanging him, 
the Agent rose early and took his prisoner to the 
treaty ground, and there placed him in a small hut. 
He had scarcely done so, when the mob assembled to 
the number of sixty persons, armed with Colt's revol- 
vers, and demanded the prisoner. Wright stood in 
the door, and by his determined manner and strong 
arguments, managed to keep them at bay until the 



244 JOURNAL OF 

arrival of a detachment of fifteen U. S. troops^ who 
had opportunely reached the opposite side of the river; 
and for whom he secretly despatched a messenger. 
The prisoner was then turned over to their protection. 
The crowd hung around for some time blackguarding 
the soldiers, but finally dispersed. 

On the following day, the twenty-seventh of August, 
a constable took the prisoner in charge with the inten- 
tion of takinor him before a magistrate some three 
miles down the river. At the solicitation of the con- 
stable, and request of General Palmer, General Super- 
intendent of Indians in Oregon, who had arrived in 
the meantime, a corporal's guard of troops was fur- 
nished the prisoner. After the latter had been prop- 
erly committed by the magistrate to stand his trial at 
the next term of court, he was remanded to the cor- 
poral for conveyance to prison. As the guard was 
ascending Rogue River late at night (moonlight) three 
men came alongside. The corporal ordered them to 
keep off, but instead of doing so they commenced fir- 
ing into his boat, killing the prisoner, who was at the 
time between the corporal's knees, and another Indian 
rowing the boat. 

The corporal then commanded his men to return 
the fire. The three men were instantly killed, each 
receiving a ball through his chest. The five corpses 
were taken to camp. The Indians fled from the 
council ground in consternation. An attack was ex- 
pected on the general's camp by the exasperated 
citizens. A gentleman was dispatched to the mouth 
of Rogue river to explain the matter to the Vigilance 
Committee. On arrivino; there he ascertained that 



ARMY LIFE. 



245 



the three men, who had met such an untimely fate by 
their rashness, were to have been supported by a 
strong party in another boat. But this party is said 
to have returned home and gone to bed, after hearing 
the fatal shots, without even ascertaining the fate of 
their companions. The miners composing the Vigi- 
lance Committee were, of course, much excited, but 
after understanding the matter thoroughly, came to 
the conclusion that the soldiers acted only in the 
discharge of their duty. This was also the verdict 
of the coroner's jury, held on the deceased the fol- 
lowing day. 

The event is to be deplored. But it will probably 
prove a lesson to a large class of persons in this com- 
munity who wish to take law into their own hands, 
and execute it in accordance to the dictates of interest 
or passion. It is probable that the Indian in this case 
was to blame; if so, he certainly would have met with 
proper punishment when tried by a jury of Americans. 
Why then attempt to frustrate the ends of justice by 
mob violence ? 

The Indians returned to the ground again on the 
thirtieth to the number of twelve hundred and twenty, 
and after having signed the treaty, received from the 
agents various presents of blankets, calicoes, kettles, 
shirts, pants, coats, beads, knives, hatchets, tobacco, 
etc. On being told that these were given them by 
our great Ti-hee (chief), the President of the United 
States, they supposed he must be a very rich man, 
and, of course, have a great many wives. When 
informed that he had only one, they were very much 
surprised. Their chiefs usually have as many wives 



246 JOURNAL OF 

as they can take care of — sometimes as high as fifteen 
or twenty. The men generally are permitted to have 
more than one. The women, on the contrary, are 
limited to one husband. As it is customary among 
all savage nations, the squaws perform all the drudg- 
ery; while the men either fish, hunt, or idle away their 
time in smoking. The former are ?aid to have been 
chaste before the whites came among them. If so, 
their principles have undergone a radical change. In 
number the females predominate — owing to the fact 
of the males being killed in a larger proportion by the 
casualties of war, etc. They are all slaves in the 
strict sense of the word, and are sold like negroes 
among the whites. The nearest relative, such as the 
father, mother, brother or husband, holds the right of 
disposal. Two or three blankets, a canoe, or a horse, 
will buy any of them. Here is a wide field for the 
talents of the women's rights society. 

I have never before seen a tribe that had not some- 
thing characteristic in their dress; which usually con- 
sists of a buffalo robe, a blanket, thrown over the 
shoulders, buckskin moccasins, and leggins. Such is 
the dress of all the tribes that at present roam the 
prairies and deserts east of the Rocky Mountains. 
And such is said to have been the attire of the de- 
generated race of which we are now speaking. But 
these marks of distinction have passed away. In this 
whole council you couldn't perceive two Indians 
dressed precisely alike. One man's apparel consisted 
of simply a coat; another, of drawers; a third, of pants; 
a fourth, a jacket; a fifth, a soldier's uniform; a sixth, 
a pair of boots and a breech-clout, and occasionally 



ARMY LIFE. 247 

you might see one dressed a la American. With the 
above articles they wring as many changes and com- 
binations as the chimes of some of our fashionable 
church bells. One of the most amusing spectacles of 
all was that of a little chubby boy with a soldier's 
jacket, reaching to his knees, and having down its 
back seam a broad scarlet stripe. 

The squaws adopt the same principles, or rather no 
principles at all, in their attire. Many of them, how- 
ever, have learned to make dresses similar to those of 
the whites. Like all Indian women, they are passion- 
ately fond of ornaments. Some of the belles have as 
many as twenty strings of beads around their necks. 
There is a peculiar bead-like shell, about an inch long, 
obtained near Puget Sound, which is preferred to any- 
thing else. Instead of ear-bobs they wear dangling 
from the middle cartilages of their noses vari-colored 
shells and beads — which may be termed nose-bobs. 
Some of the old spinsters substitute a long painted 
feather stuck transversely; signifying, perhaps, that 
they may be easily "caught." 

At the Indian villages one may sometimes see the 
men, and frequently the boys, in puris naturalibus. 
Not so with the females. They are never, not even 
the little papooses or babies, without some substitute 
for the figleaf of Mother Eve. The majority of both men 
and women go bareheaded; though a common head- 
dress of the latter is a conical basket made of the inner 
bark of the birch tree. This also serves them for a pail, 
the slits being woven so closely that when swollen by 
moisture the vessel is perfectly water-tight. And, of 
course, it is also used as a basket proper — particularly 



248 JOURNAL OF 

to carry berries in. There are many varieties of the 
latter, and I am very fond of them; but to eat them 
when brought in these baskets sometimes requires 
more courage than I am master of; especially if I 
have previously observed the owner in the interesting 
occupation of searching for and eating pediculi — yes, 
eating them, but it is said they do it out of revenge. 

Their staple article of food is the salmon, which are 
as plentiful in the Oregon rivers as herring and shad in 
the Potomac; Rogue river especially abounds in them. 
The agent issued them to the Indians attending the 
council as a substitute for beef. One haul with a seine 
at the mouth of the river, when the tide is setting in, 
is sufficient to last twelve hundred Indians a fortnight. 
They have some strange superstitions about these fish; 
and are never known to catch them until salmon-ber- 
ries — which are also an article of food — are ripe; or 
to cut them open with a knife in dressing them — for 
this purpose a sharp stone is used. An infraction of 
this custom is an unpardonable offense to the salmon 
Ti-hee — chief or god. What they can't consume 
whilst fresh are dried for winter use. Their manner 
of cooking a salmon is worthy of adoption by voyag- 
eurs. Having dressed it properly, it is laid open longi- 
tudinally, and spread out on two sticks, arranged in 
the form of a cross; the longer and larger one being 
sharpened at one end, and stuck in the ground at a 
convenient distance from the fire. It thus becomes 
broiled much better than when cooked on a gridiron; 
the use of which indispensbale article of a civilized 
cuisi7ie is as little known among them as the manufac- 
ture of flour, which they imagine is found by the 



ARMY LIFE. 249 

white man in the beds of rivers. They usually catch 
salmon in weirs and cast nets. The latter is also em- 
ployed in the sea in catching a species of small fish 
resembling sardines, which go in vast schools along 
the shore. Their presence is indicated by gulls and 
other sea-birds who hover in their vicinity. Swimming 
usually near the surface, they are readily secured by 
suddenly dipping the net under them and raising it up. 
But for sea-fishing a hook and line is commonly used. 
The latter is made of birch bark, and the former con- 
sists of a bone and nail bent at right angles to each 
other. When a fish is hooked he is gently drawn to 
the surface of the water, and a basket placed beneath 
to secure him. 

They are also very fond of shell-fish, such as oysters, 
clams, muscles, etc. Their mode of cooking these, as 
well as their favorite kamas and cowas, is to dig a pit 
into which wood and stones are thrown, and a fire 
kindled. When the wood is consumed the articles to 
be cooked are thrown in upon the hot stones and cov- 
ered over with dirt. They will eat any kind of animal 
matter, and are not particular whether it has been 
killed or has died a natural death. The carcass of a 
sea-lion floated ashore near Port Orford a short time 
ago. Like buzzards they gathered around it from far 
and near, and had a glorious feast. At the proper 
season berries afford them a o-ood substitute for 

o 

bread; such as the blackberry, raspberry, straw- 
berry, salalle-berry, salmon-berry, thimble-berry, and 
red and black huckleberries. Those of them 
not living immediately on the coast subsist in 
part upon elk, bear and deer. But as they are notori- 



250 JOURNAL OF 

ously lazy, and moreover have but few guns, in con- 
sequence of an Oregon law prohibiting firearms from 
being sold to them, their success in hunting is not 
very great. They are not such expert marksmen as 
the Indians living east of the coast range of mount- 
ains — especially the upper Rogue river and Modoc 
Indians. My description has reference to the Indians 
living on or near the coast; and especially of two 
tribes residing in the Port Orford district, but will 
apply to all those on the coast west of the coast 
range of mountains from the northern to the southern 
boundary of the Territory. There are, perhaps, 
three thousand, all of whom, together with most of 
the upper Rogue river Indians, are to be moved on 
one reservation twenty by seventy miles in extent. 
They are split up into small bands of from thirty to 
one hundred and fifty souls; each of which has a head 
man, called Ti-hee (chief), who gains control over 
them simply by his bravery or wealth. With few 
exceptions the position is neither hereditary nor elec- 
tive. Their language varies in different tribes ; but there 
is a jargon, introduced among them by the Hudson Bay 
Company, that they all understand. It consists of 
about two hundred and fifty words, taken from the 
English, French and Chinook Indian languages. This 
jargon is to them what the pantomime is to the tribes 
east of the Rocky Mountains; but is not an entire 
substitute, for the latter is used to some extent. 

Like all Indians, they are very thriftless, and liter- 
ally carry out the idea of letting the morrow take care 
of itself. Those around the white settlements will 
occasionally hire themselves out for a few hours or 



ARMY LIFE. 



251 



days at a time. But when eight or ten dollars are 
thus earned they are entirely too rich to work any 
more until that is exhausted. 

A man is considered wealthy who possesses a few 
skins, blankets, a canoe, or a horse; very few of them 
own the latter, their usual mode of transportation 
being in a canoe. This is made of cedar, by first 
burning it out with hot stones and shaping it with a 
knife or hatchet. It is usually two feet broad by 
twelve long, but the Indians in the upper part of 
Oregon, and near Puget Sound, in Washington Ter- 
ritory, have much larger ones — some of them being 
sixty feet in length with a beam of eight, and are 
said to be beautiful specimens of naval architecture. 
There is nothing remarkable or peculiar in the gen- 
eral appearance of the coast Indians. Their height 
is rather below the medium. Heads will compare 
favorably in size with those of Anglo-Americans; 
retreating foreheads; nose rather inclined to flatness; 
thick lips, high cheek bones — and dark eyes and hair, 
of course. The latter is long in both sexes, and 
allowed to dangfle down over their shoulders. The 
men don't seem so particular about abstracting their 
beards as most other Indians — some few of them 
even allow it to grow. Both sexes have small hands 
and feet. They follow the universal practice of tat- 
tooing and painting. But instead of trying to imitate 
nature like our belles, the squaws daub the paint on 
like a house painter. And when in full dress, which 
approximates to no dress at all, as for a dance, all the 
primary colors are represented on one person. We 
witnessed several of their balls at the council ground. 



252 JOURNAL OF 

A most ludicrous sight. The spectators being seated 
on the ground, leaving an elliptical space in the middle 
for the dancers, some seventy or eighty persons will 

enter, and singing a he-ah ah ..... , a/i, he-ah 

.... ah ... . aA, will commence a succession of bob- 
bing up and down, both feet at a time, body slightly 
bent, and limbs as rigid as marble statues. They all 
spring in unison — and keep pretty good time. The 
same dance is kept up the whole night, with proper 
intervals of rest. Their war dance is somewhat 
different. 

Their houses are of the most primitive order. A 
single shed of bark, with a log or brush wall, and 
dirt floor; size usually about ten feet by twelve. In 
one of these are crowded from ten to fifteen persons; 
huddled, in bad weather, around a fire, which is inva- 
riably built in the centre of the building, with no par- 
ticular outlet for the smoke. No wonder they suffer 
so dreadfully from sore eyes. But there is another 
prolific cause of this malady which needn't be men- 
tioned in this unscientific sketch. They suffer much 
from consumption; and the small-pox and measles 
make a clean sweep whenever they appear among 
them. This is more owinor to their method of treat- 
ment than any peculiar virulence of the disease. The 
patient is placed in a " sweat-house," and whilst reek- 
ing in perspiration is suddenly taken out and plunged 
into a stream of the coldest water that is to be found. 
Besides sweating they use certain kinds of herbs. But 
incantations are the favorite remedies. If the patient 
has a snake in his stomach, or be possessed of a demon 
in the form of a rabbit or wolf, the doctor, with grave 



ARMY LIFE. 



25. 



aspect, seats himself beside the couch, and with his 
hands under the blanket will commence a series of 
gesticulations, groans, howls, and screams, until the 
excitement is raised to a proper pitch, then, drawing 
forth his hands, suddenly throws upon the floor a dead 
snake, wolf, or other animal. The patient being now 
dispossessed is expected to recover. Should the laws 
of nature determine otherwise, the poor doctor's life 
pays the forfeit, unless he can compromise the matter 
with the relatives by paying the value of the deceased. 
Being largely feed he is in honor bound to take the 
consequences. So it would seem that not even mar- 
tyrdom itself will stay the current of quackery. 

When an Indian dies he is thrown into a pit, to- 
gether with all his goods and chatties. To prevent 
the grave being robbed these are generally injured in 
such a manner as to render them useless to anybody 
but the dead, to whom they are supposed to be indis- 
pensable in their heavenly journey. As no attempts 
have yet been made to enlighten these tribes upon the 
glorious truths of Christianity, they, of course, know 
nothing of the promises in the Bible. They believe 
in a good and evil spirit. The former is called the 
great Ti-hee, and reigns in heaven. His wrath is 
signified by hard winters, scarcity of food^ and epi- 
demics. His satisfaction by a healthy season, mild 
winters, and an abundance of food. Besides him 
there are numerous subordinate Ti-hees inhabiting 
particular earthly localities, and having jurisdiction 
over certain animals, mountains and streams. Heaven 
is to them either a region covered with eternal ver- 
dure — its plains and mountains teeming with elk and 



2 54 JOURNAL OF 

deer, and its crystal streams abounding in luscious 
salmon — according as they happen to live on the 
coast or in the interior. 

The Indians having signed the treaty, the council 
was dissolved, and we all started for home, where we 
arrived yesterday afternoon. 



ARMY LIFE. 



255 



CHAPTER XIX. 

INDIAN WAR RUMORS. 

"La grande Speculation" — Indian hostilities in Washington Territory — Defeat 
of Major Haller — Threatened Indian outbreak in Southern Oregon — Rumored 
Massacre of Lieutenant Kautz and party — Repulse of Upper Rogue River 
Indians by U. S. Troops under Major Fitzgerald. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 2D, 1855.— Mob law seems to 
be the order of the day. La grande specu- 
latio7i of Monsieur ChevaHeur havinor turned out 
a failure, as predicted, a crowd of some sixty or sev- 
enty persons assembled in front of his house in Port 
Orford, and divided his goods and chatties sans cere- 
monie.^ and then voted him sixty lashes, provided he 
does not leave this country by the next steamer. 

Monday, Sept. ^d, 1833- — The noise was kept up in 
the village all night. It seems that after frequent im- 
portunities Mr. Dart gave permission to some of the 
crowd to be "treated" at his expense. When he 
went to foot the bill this morning he found that the 
mob had run him in debt one hundred and forty dol- 
lars. It has been raining all day. The first rain we 
have had since May, excepting a slight shower last 
week. 

Saturday, Sept. gtk, igj^, — Steamer arrived at four 
this morning. Brought Company H, Third Artillery, 
commanded by Lieutenant J. G. Chandler, to relieve 
detachment of Company M, at this post. Lieutenant 



256 JOURNAL OF 

A. V. Kautz is ordered to take the latter to the Presi- 
dio; thence proceed to Fort Jones on temporary duty. 

Monday, Sept, nth, 1855- — Three men started out 
in the bay fishing this morning. A strong north- 
wester springing up they were unable to manage their 
boat, which was gradually floating seaward. A party 
of staunch sailors in town perceiving their distress 
went to their rescue. They succeeded in saving the 
men, but left the boat adrift. The latter was after- 
wards secured by a schooner which was sent after it. 

Sunday, October 14th, 1853 ■ — The "Columbia" ar- 
rived from Portland late yesterday afternoon. She 
brings an account of an outbreak among the Indians 
in Washington Territory. For the last few months 
we have heard floating rumors of preparations for 
intended hostilities by the large Indian tribes in that 
section of country, but as the border settlers are 
somewhat like the boy in the fable, always crying 
wolf, we have rarely been able to tell when they 
really were in danger. But at present there is no 
doubt of an Indian war havincj commenced. In con- 
sequence of the reports of various persons on their 
way to the Colville mines having been killed by the 
Indians, an agent was sent out by Superintendent 
Joel Palmer, to ascertain their correctness, and he 
himself was murdered by the Indians. On this news 
reaching Fort Dalles, Maj. Granville O. Haller, U. S. 
Army, who had just got in from his expedition to the 
Snake Indian country, where he had been to demand 
the murderers of the emigrants last year, started out 



ARMY LIFE. 257 

with a command of a hundred men to bring the murder- 
ers to an account for their atrocities. He had been out 
but three or four days, when a messenger brought the 
startHng news of his command having been surrounded 
by the Indians at a point about twenty-five miles from 
the Dalles. His position was upon a hill, with ravines 
and thickets around him. His troops and animals had 
been without water for forty-eight hours. The In- 
dians were constantly firing upon them. He was en- 
abled to send a messenger through the ranks of the 
Indians in the night, who reached the Dalles Monday, 
October 8th, at eight p. m. Immediately on the 
arrival of the express at the Dalles, Lieutenant Day 
started with the remaining troops at that post to the 
succor of Maj. Haller. Maj. H. calls for large rein- 
forcements to aid him. It is reported that a requisi- 
tion has been made on the Governors of Oregon and 
Washington Territories for volunteers. How many 
is not known — some say one thousand, others five 
hundred. 

The hostile feeling among the Indians is supposed 
to extend to several tribes. Proposals, it is said, have 
been made to all the Indians east of the Cascade 
range to unite in a general war of extermination 
against the whites. But the number that have really 
leagued together is not known. The Yakimas and 
Clikitats seem to be the prime movers in the affair. 
In order to induce a war spirit they report all sorts of 
Indian wrongs, and threaten hostilities against such 
tribes as will not join them. It is thought the dis- 
affection is so widely diffused among them that one 
flush of victory on their part against the United States 



25S JOURNAL OF 

troops would induce nearly all of the tribes to unite 
in a general war. Hence much anxiety is felt in the 
result of Haller's expedition against them. They are 
abundantly supplied with arms and ammunition; and 
are thought to be good warriors ; differing vastly in this 
respect from the Coast Indians of lower Oregon. We 
are expecting orders by the next steamer, which will 
arrive in a few days, to proceed to the seat of war. 

Tuesday, October 16th, 1855' — Lieutenant August 
V. Kautz, Fourth Infantry, who left here with ten men 
about eight days ago, to survey a road between this 
place and Fort Lane, returned last night about twelve 
o'clock to get arms and ammunition for his party. He 
reports that on reaching the big bend of Rogue River, 
forty-five miles from Fort Orford, he found the settlers 
making port-holes in their houses, preparatory to an 
attack from the Indians of upper Rogue River valley. 
He learned from them that being advised by some 
friendly Indians to leave the place, as the tribes above 
there were hostile, but not believing the reports they 
started up the river to ascertain the truth of the matter. 
On arriving in sight of a trader's establishment they 
saw the building in flames, and the Indians in a war 
dance around it. And that they were further told by 
the friendly Indians that all the tribes in upper Rogue 
River valley had united in war against the whites. 
This report, together with those received from Jack- 
sonville last mail of the disaffection of the Indians 
in that region in consequence, of the hanging of sev- 
eral of their head men at Yreka for murder, indicates 
that trouble is brewing in lower Oregon also. These 



AJ?JfY LIFE. 



259 



Indians had been arrested by the United States troops 
at Fort Lane, and turned over to the civil authorities 
of California, who, it is presumed, gave them a fair 
trial. 

Of course everybody in this section is excited — all 
sorts of reports are circulating about small parties 
being cut off, but I have lived in an Indian country too 
long to put confidence in more than one twentieth part 
of the Indian atrocities that are reported. 

October 2'^d, 1S55- — The "Columbia" stopped this 
morning on her upward trip, having on board a large 
number of passengers, and seventy United States 
troops, under the command of Captain E. O. C. Ord, en 
route for the seat of Indian difficulties in Washinp-ton 
Territory. We are not ordered, for the reason, I sup- 
pose, that trouble is apprehended in this neighbor- 
hood. I see from a Yreka paper (Siskiyou County, 
Cal.,) that the Indians of that part of California, and 
in upper Rogue River valley, are truly in open hostili- 
ties. That the United States troops under Brevet- 
Major Edward H. Fitzgerald, of the Second Dragoons, 
have had an encounter with them — killing some thirty, 
with a loss of about ten of the soldiers. The volun- 
•teers have also had a fiofht with them. So it seems 
that a second Rogue River war is upon us. We will 
probably be unable to hear from the outbreak in 
western Oregon, and Washington Territory, until the 
return steamer. The Indians immediately around 
Port Orford are, so far, quiet. All the settlers within 
sixty miles of here have retired to the mouth of 
Rogue River and this place. 



2 6o JOURNAL OF 

October 2gth^ ^855- — The steamer touched here on 
her downward trip this afternoon, and brings the news 
of Major Mailer's defeat. After being surrounded by 
the Indians for twenty-four hours, he fought his way 
through their ranks — but was pursued to the Dalles — 
losing in the action five men, and having seventeen 
wounded; he also lost his howitzer. The fight lasted 
nearly three days. Lieutenant Day did not succeed 
in joining him. Success has thus added many others 
to the hostile tribes. It bids fair to become the great- 
est Indian war we have had for many years. 

The Governors of Oregfon and Washing-ton Terri- 
tories have called out a thousand volunteers, who will 
be ready for the field by the fifth of November. 
These, with three hundred regulars, will make a force 
of thirteen hundred men. Major G. J. Rains, Fourth 
Infantry, with five hundred men, expects to take the 
field against the enemy about the fifth of November. 
The Indians are said to be posted in large numbers 
near the battle field of Haller, but they will undoubt- 
edly flee to the mountains if hard pushed. 

We have received preliminary notice to get our 
command ready by the next steamer, to proceed to 
the seat of war. 



ARMY LIFE. 26 1 



CHAPTER XX. 

FORT ORFORD — MORE WAR RUMORS. 

Return of Kautz — His encounter with Indians — Battle of "Hungry Hill" — 
General Harney defeats the Sioux — A Storm — Whales in the Harbor — Christ- 
mas — Indian troubles near Puget Sound — Lieutenant Slaughter killed — 
Steamer " California" catching fire, and subsequently experiencing a Terrific 
Gale — Four Indians killed for Stealing — Two whites waylaid and killed by 
Indians — Slight skirmish by Volunteers — The Upper Rogue River Indians 
trying to incite the Coast Indians to war — Colonel Kelly's repulse of the In- 
dians in Eastern Oregon — Upper Rogue River Indians surrounded, but 
escape — Good Shots — Killed Doctor Myers at three hundred yards — An 
Effort to separate the Coast from Hostile Indians — Rock Oysters and Sea 
Otter. 

1VTOVEMBER 6rH, 1855. — A week ago news was 
-L^ brought here that Lieutenant Kautz and party, 
who were surveying a road between this place and 
Fort Lane, and a company from the mouth of Rogue 
River, who were looking out a road between that point 
and Yreka, were cut off by the Indians, and that the 
hostile bands from above were within a day's march 
of the villao^e at the mouth of Roo-ue River, which 
they intended to attack — thence proceed to take Port 
Orford. 

This rumor created a universal stampede among the 
whites who reside at Port Orford, and the mouth of 
Rogue River. Their scare alarmed the friendly In- 
dians around here, and the few acts of precaution that 
they were induced to take from fear, were construed 
by the frightened whites as indications of hostilities. 
What would have been the result heaven only knows 
had not one of the supposed lost parties — the one 



2.32 JOURNAL OF 

from Rogue River — arrived safely home. The ex- 
citable public thus finding a part of the rumor false, 
were led to believe that it might all be so. The ex- 
citement has now greatly abated. It has been the 
cause of a good deal of inconvenience and distress to 
the settlers. One poor invalid, Mr. Long, was hurried 
down to Port Orford so rapidly that he died a few 
hours after his arrival. He was one of the oldest and 
most respected persons of this neighborhood. Ev- 
erybody turned out at his funeral yesterday afternoon. 
There being no proper person to read the burial cer- 
emony, I performed this solemn duty at the request of 
the relatives. 

November igth, 2855- — For the last fortnight the 
weather has been exceedingly unpleasant — raining 
almost incessantly, with strong winds from the south- 
west. We have been looking out for the mail 
steamer during the whole of this time, but on account 
of the storm she has probably been afraid to venture 
in. We have thus been entirely cut off from news; 
at least till last night; which is a great privation 
during these exciting times. However, the firing of 
cannon in the little village near here }esterday after- 
noon indicated something new; and on looking out of 
our window we found it to be a salute to the return of 
Lieutenant Kautz and party, who had been reported 
lost. This was cheering news — for we had grown 
very anxious about his safety — particularly as he had 
gone through the heart of a hostile Lidian country 
with only ten men and a guide, and had overstaid his 
time three weeks. 



ARMY LI fK. 263 

On his way to Fort Lane, and when within forty- 
five miles of that place, he accidently came upon a 
hostile band of Indians, who attacked him, and killed 
two of his men, and wounded another and himself. 
He made good his retreat to Bates' Station^ where he ar- 
rived on the night of the twenty-fifth of October, Leav- 
ing his men there, he immediately proceeded to Fort 
Lane for reinforcements. Brevet -Major E. H, Fitzger- 
ald, with sixty men of that post, was ordered to proceed 
against the Indians; but, on arriving at the ground, he 
found them so safely posted that it would have been use- 
less to make an attack upon them with his command. 

After reporting these circumstances to the com- 
manding officer at Fort Lane, Captain Andrew J. 
Smith, the whole of the force at that post, about one 
hundred and twenty men; and some two hundred and 
twenty-five volunteers; were got in readiness, and 
marched against the Indians. They arrived on the 
ground on the thirtieth of October, and after fighting 
the Indians for nearly two days, and finding it im- 
possible to dislodge them, gave up the attack. They 
intended making another efTort on the ninth of this 
month. After this fight was over. Lieutenant Kautz 
and party, who had participated in it, returned to this 
post via Crescent City, He informs us that the mail 
steamer stood off that village for a short time on last 
Saturday, but, being unable to land either freight or 
passengers, proceeded on to Portland. He was in- 
formed that there were troops on board — also Gen- 
eral Wool and staff. And that orders have been 
issued for the troops at this place to proceed to the 
scene of difficulties in Washington Territory. 



264 JOURNAL OF 

Our Indian affairs are assumina- a serious aspect on 
the other side of the mountains as well as on the 
Pacific coast. General Harney, with some five com- 
panies of infantry, two of cavalry, and one of artil- 
lery, met with a party of Sioux on the Blue Water 
river, near Fort Laramie, and routed them complete- 
ly — having killed about ninety men, and taken sev- 
eral hundred squaws prisoners. 

December yt/i, i855- — Since last writing, very little 
of importance has occurred in this vicinity. The In- 
dians of this district are quiet, except at the Coquille, 
where there are slight indications of an outbreak. 
But if the settlers there act prudently they need fear 
no trouble for the present. We have heard nothing 
from the war in Washington Territory since the thirti- 
eth of October. The troops were then on their 
march against the Indians, who had taken their posi- 
tion near the ground where Major Haller was de- 
feated. A great fight was expected in a few days. 
We, of course, feel anxious to learn the result. 

A mail is usually received here once a fortnight 
from that section of country; but an accident has 
occurred to the mail steamer "California," which 
should have been down three weeks ago. Rumor 
has it that she collapsed a flue, and caught fire in 
the Columbia river. The extent ot the damage is 
not known. Not returning to San Francisco in due 
time, the steamship company sent another vessel, the 
"Columbia," Captain Leroy, after her. This vessel 
passed here last Sunday week, and should have been 
down six days ago. She has probably gone by in a 



ARMY LIFE. 265 

gale. For six weeks there has scarcely been a clay 
without a storm of wind and rain from the southwest. 
During the last few days it has stormed almost inces- 
santly — accompanied by hail, thunder and lightning. 
The latter we have here mainly in winter; thus differ- 
ing from every other climate I have ever been in. 
The thermometer at present ranges between thirty- 
five and forty. 

December 24th, iS55- — We have had no mail from 
Portland later than the twenty-eighth of October, and 
no news from San Francisco since the arrival of the 
"Columbia" on the twenty-fifth ultimo. As these are 
the only two sources through which news can reach 
us, we have consequently been entirely cut ofi^ from 
the world for nearly a month. There has been more 
stormy weather within the past five weeks than I 
have ever experienced in the same length of time — 
in fact it has been storming almost incessantly — at 
least until day before yesterday. The rainfall in this 
month is already 19.6 inches — an unusual quantity 
even for this country. The largest measurement in 
any previous month, for the last three years, is said 
to have been sixteen inches. Last night was also 
colder than it has been for several years — thermome- 
ter twenty-five degrees. There has been considerable 
hail, and even a little snow. The mountains near 
here are covered with the latter. But, notwithstanding 
the cool state of the atmosphere, everything around 
looks green. The forest trees of course do, as they 
belong to the pine genus; and as to grass, it is even 
fresher than in summer. I shouldn't be surprised, 



2 66 JOURNAL OF 

however, if the frost has nipped the blossoms of the 
salalle, and strawberries, which were blooming a few 
days ago. 

The storm has now lulled, and we may look for 
fine weather for a few days. To-day is beautiful. All 
nature seems to be reaminated. The larks and rob- 
ins seem to enjoy it wonderfully; and even the 
monsters of the mighty deep appear to be aware that 
the elements have ceased their warfare, for they may 
now be seen in large numbers sporting in the harbor. 
'Tis wonderful how high a whale can spout the water. 

December 2^th, 1833- — Christmas ! This day of all 
others reminds us of home. Oh, how our hearts yearn 
for those fond ones left behind; for the many fireside 
reunions of our childhood; when we felt supremely 
happy if our kind mothers allowed us plenty of gin- 
gercake and lemonade. If our wants were as simple 
now how much happier we might be: }'et, after all, 
there are few of us, I presum'e, who would be will- 
ing to exchange our present pleasures with the accom- 
pan)ing sorrows, for the happiness of childhood — for 
though our sorrows are greater our sense of pleasure 
is also enhanced. 

'Tis curious to look back even a few years, and see 
what a checkered life one leads. Two years ago I 
ate my Christmas dinner at Fort Arbuckle, C. N. — 
last year on the steamship "Empire City," in the 
Atlantic ocean, off Cape Hatteras — and to-day on the 
western confines of the United States Territory. 
What has probably conduced more' than anything 
else to our happiness of to-day is the arrival of the 



ARMY UI'E. 267 

Steamship "Columbia," bringing us news from the 
States and Washington Territory. That from the 
former is rather of an exciting character — as a rupture 
with Great Britain is seriously apprehended. The 
precise cause of the quarrel is not known, but from 
the London Times we learn that the British West 
India fleet has been suddenly increased with the os- 
tensible purpose of preventing a fillibustering expe- 
dition, said (by the Times) to be fitting out in the 
United States against Ireland. If this be the real 
cause the British government is acting under a great 
mistake, as there is no such expedition fitting out in 
this country. It is to be hoped that the British and 
American authorities will act with prudence, and not 
involve the two greatest countries in the world in a 
protracted war. 

The troops in Washington Territory have had 
several skirmishes with Indians since the twenty- 
eighth of October, routing them in every instance, 
but not killing many. Several ofiicers have been 
killed; among others Lieutenant Wm. A. Slaughter, of 
the Fourth Infantry. He had had a skirmish with the 
Indians, whom he defeated. A few days thereafter, 
whilst in a hut near Fort Steilacoom, not dreaming 
there were any Indians near him, his small^ party was 
unexpectedly fired upon by the savages, killing him 
and several of his men. 

It appears that the steamship "California" had a 
very hard time of it in her trip up the coast. The 
rumor of her having caught fire in the Columbia 
river is confirmed by Captain Wm. Dall, who was 
in command of her at the time. It seems that di- 



268 ■ JOURNAL OF 

rectly after crossing the bar at the mouth of the 
Columbia, she collapsed a flue, which accident caused 
the water from the boiler to leak into the furnace, 
thus suddenly generating so much steam that the 
door of the latter was forced open, and the fire was 
scattered in every direction. They succeeded in ex- 
tinguishing the fire before much damage was done; 
but the ship, in the meantime, came within an ace of 
stranding. After being repaired at Astoria, and com- 
pleting her trip to Vancouver, she was engaged by 
General Wool to take troops to Steilacoom — whence 
she proceeded to San Francisco. On her downward 
trip she encountered on the twenty-seventh of Novem- 
ber, a terrific gale off the mouth of the Columbia; and 
came very near being foundered. The gale was from 
the southeast, and lasted with unabated fury for seventy 
hours. The engine being disabled, the ship was put 
under sail, and reached San Francisco after an ex- 
tremely long passage of twenty-one days. Only one 
person drowned — the third mate. 

yanuary ^d, ^83^- — The steamer "Columbia" 
passed down last Sunday, having gone no further 
than Astoria, in consequence of the Columbia River 
being frozen over; this is an unusual severe winter. 
The back country is covered with deep snow — and 
we have even had a few spits at this point, and the 
thermometer one night as low as twenty degrees 
above zero, Fahrenheit. The weather, however, for 
the last eight or ten days, has been beautiful. Ex- 
actly twenty inches of rain fell last month. No 
wonder the rivers have been unusually high. 



ARMY LIFE. 



2.9 



The Indians in this district, with one exception, 
have remained quiet during the present war. The 
imprudence of the whites came near rendering the 
bands of the Coquille hostile. It seems that a ras- 
cally Englishman (Woodruff) endeavored to incite 
the Indians to war by telling them that the Ameri- 
cans intended killing them all off, and succeeded in 
getting them to steal some flour which had been 
placed under his protection. He subsequently fled 
to Rogue River valley. The whites on the Coquille 
and Coos Bay then formed a volunteer company 
and killed four Indians. Indian agent Ben Wright, 
from Port Orford, arriving in the meantime, man- 
aged to quiet the matter, and it is to be hoped that 
it will end without further bloodshed. Were it not 
for the untiring energy of the Indian agent here, 
supported by a company of United States troops, 
the Indians of this district would ere this have 
joined with the hostile bands in the valley. 

January Jth, ig^^. — Steamer "Columbia" arrived 
just after dark; news from the States unimportant. 
Brevet-Major John F. Reynolds, of company H, 
Third Artillery, was a passenger. He relieves Lieu- 
tenant A. V. Kautz, in command of this post; the 
latter is ordered to join his company at Fort Steila- 
coom. 

January 24th, iS^6. — Day before yesterday Cap- 
tain Poland, commanding a company of volunteers 
at the big bend of Rogue River, sent an express to 
the Indian agent of Port Orford, stating that a party 



270 yOURiVAL OF 

of hostile Indians had been seen in the vicinity 
of his fort (a block-house), and that he was nearly 
out of provisions. In the absence of the Indian 
agent, the commander of Fort Orford sent his com- 
pany twenty days rations, and lent them mules to 
pack them. 

Fort Orford, January 25th, 1856. 

An express has just arrived from the mouth of 
Rogue River, bringing the news that a party, con- 
sisting of two white men and a Canadian Indian, left 
that place day before yesterday for the volunteer 
cantonment at the Big Bend — and that yesterday 
morning, when within eight miles of the latter place, 
they were waylaid by a band of hostile Indians, who 
fired upon them, killing the two white men, and a 
Shasta-Kostah Indian, who had been hired to row 
them up the river. The Canadian Indian made his 
escape, and brought the news to the mouth of the 
river. 

It thus appears that the hostile bands of upper 

Roofue River are movino- in this direction, and are al- 
ts o ' 

ready in the Port Orford district. As they got the bet- 
ter of the troops in upper Rogue River in almost every 
eneaeement since the becfinnino- of the war, not- 
withstanding there were at one time twelve hundred 
volunteers and regulars in the field, and three hun- 
dred and fifty engaged in one battle, it is not likely 
we shall be able to do much with them, should they 
come amonof us in full force — at least until we are 
reinforced — for the whole white male population of 
this district, including the settlement at the mouth of 



AJ?A/V LIFE. 2 7 I 

Rogue River, the volunteers at the Big Bend, citizens 
of Port Orford, and garrison of Fort Orford, is not 
more than one hundred and eighty men. A small 
force, even were they all prepared to fight, to act 
against the Indians, except in the defensive. However, 
it is to be hoped that we may maintain the position 
at the Big Bend, and also be able to get the friendly 
bands of that neighborhood to move nearer the coast. 
We may thus be enabled to prevent the hostile tribes 
from forcing them into their service. 

yanuary 30th, 185^- — This morning Lieutenants 
John G. Chandler and Drysdale, of the Third Ar- 
tillery, with seventeen men, will leave this post for 
the mouth of the Illinois River, to remain there in 
charge of the provisions, and other stores, until the 
arrival of Captain Poland's volunteer company from 
their present fort at the Big Bend, which they are 
to abandon, in order to secure a more useful posi- 
tion at the mouth of the Illinois, on Rogue River, 
some seven miles below the Big Bend. Then Lieu- 
tenant Chandler's detachment is to proceed to the 
mouth of Rogue River, to assist the acting Indian 
agent, Jerry McGuire, in collecting all the friendly 
Indians in that part of the district, and removing 
them to Fort Orford. This is done in accordance with 
general instructions from the superintendent of Indian 
affairs of Oregon, who, foreseeing that many of the 
friendly tribes might, be forced to take sides with those 
that are hostile, has ordered his assistants to keep the 
former separated from the latter, and even to bring 
the friendly bands in, and feed them if necessary. 



272 JOURNAL OF 

To-day is exceedingly stormy — a strong- southeast 
wind with rain. The troops will have a disagreeable 
march. I may here remark that the Indians, after 
killinof those three men near the mouth of Illinois 
River the other day, made a night attack on the 
fort at the Big Bend in the absence of a portion of 
the garrison, but after shooting in the window a few 
times, and attempting to fire the house, went away. 
Two days thereafter some of the volunteers came 
across a few of these Indians, and firing into them, 
killed one man, the others retreated. 

February 1st, 183^- — The detachment under Lieu- 
tenant Chandler left here day before yesterday at one 
p. M. — the weather being exceedingly stormy. Yes- 
terday morning an expressman arrived from Lieu- 
tenant C, bringing an Indian prisoner and a letter. 
Lieutenant C. reached Half Breed's House, some 
twelve miles from here, the first day, with his men 
and animals much fatigued in consequence of the 
miserable roads and inclemency of the weather. At 
that place he met Jerry McGuire, the assistant Indian 
agent, with the above mentioned Indian prisoner, 
whom he requests shall be kept in custody for 
awhile, as he is suspected of being a spy. Mr. 
McGuire thought it better for him to accompany 
the troops, otherwise the friendly Indians, on seeing 
them, might flee to the mountains, and give much 
trouble. Of course his wishes ^ were gladly com- 
plied with, as he is the best Indian interpreter on 
the coast, and knows all the head men belonging to 
the different bands. From his representation of the 



AHMY LIFE, 



27. 



really serious condition of things at the mouth of the 
Ilhnois, the detachment of regulars, and the volun- 
teers at the Big Bend, will undoubtedly unite before 
reaching the latter place, and march there together; 
for Mr. McGuire says the hostile Indians are already 
some fifty strong in that neighborhood, and still 
coming down from their headquarters further up the 
river. 

In regard to the Indian prisoner, I may remark that 
he was a partner of Enas, the Canadian Indian who 
was with the party that was cut off near the mouth of 
the Illinois a few days ago. I have already men- 
tioned that Enas brought the news of this misfortune 
to the mouth of Roofue River. On his arrival at the 
latter place the citizens were induced to let him carry 
an express to the volunteers at the Big Bend, inform- 
ing them of what had transpired, and that a hostile 
band was in their vicinity. They also let him have 
about sixty dollars worth of gunpowder, which he said 
the captain of the volunteers desired him to get — for 
which he paid in gold slugs. Several persons offered 
to go with him, but he declined their company, saying 
that he could go more expeditiously and safely alone. 
Jerry McGuire (acting Indian agent) has since been at 
the Big Bend, and given Captain Poland the first in- 
formation concerning the action of the hostile In- 
dians in his vicinity. Enas had not arrived. Captain 
Poland denies having requested him to buy ammuni- 
tion, or giving him any gold islugs; and as Enas pos- 
sessed none himself, it is believed that he has been 
double dealing, and that the ammunition was pur- 
chased for the hostile Indians. Another way the 



2 74 JOURNAL OF 

latter have of getting ammunition is from the squaws 
kept by some of the miners. 

February 2d, ^83^- — This afternoon the steamer 
"Columbia" very unexpectedly arrived from Portland 
on her downward trip. We were under the impres- 
sion that she passed here in a storm; but it seems she 
was detained for several days on a sand bar in the 
Columbia River. As her arrival was so unexpected, 
and her stay so brief, Major Reynolds was unable to 
transmit a communication to the headquarters of this 
department, informing General Wool of the excite- 
ment in this vicinity; and as we have no other mode 
of communication we shall have to wait for the return 
steamer; unless the commanding officer writes by a 
schooner now lying in the harbor, and bound for San 
Francisco in a few days. But as the prevailing winds 
at this season are from the south and southeast, there 
is no telling when she will get there. The harbor is 
so rough at present that she will be unable to take 
her cargo of lumber for some days to come. The 
roughness of the harbor, caused by a southeaster, is 
the reason why the steamer stopped so short a time. 

Ben Wright, our Indian agent, arrived on the 
steamer this afternoon. His return will have a bene- 
ficial influence on the Indians in this district. He 
says that Captain Poland's volunteer company has 
been properly organized, and called into service by 
the Governor. Its strength is to be sixty men — at 
present it is only about twenty-two. 

Febrttary 4th, igj^- — The storm has subsided. The 
wind has changed to the north; the sky clear and 



ARMY LIFE. 275 

beautiful. Many unknown species of plants are to be 
seen blooming on the sunny slopes of the coast. The 
snow has disappeared on the neig-hboring mountains. 
No news from Lieutenant Chandler yet. The troops 
in eastern and southern Oregon are in winter quarters. 
They number two regiments, or twenty companies, of 
volunteers; and two or three companies of regulars. 
This number has been in the service since November 
last. In Washington Territory there have been seven 
companies of regulars (portions of the Fourth Infantry 
and Third Artillery) and eight companies of volunteers. 
In January the regular force was increased by the ar- 
rival of the Ninth Infantry, which will take the field 
during the ensuing spring campaign in Washington 
Territory and Eastern Oregon. At present the main 
body of them are at Fort Vancouver, and the remain- 
der at Fort Steilacoom, Puget Sound. Since the 
arrival of the Ninth, Captain Keys and Ord's com- 
panies of artillery have been ordered to Benicia and 
the Presidio, in California. The force of resfulars and 
volunteers that left Fort Dalles about the first of 
November, under Major Raines, with the hope of 
bringing on an engagement with the Indians near 
Haller's battle ground, returned after being out sev- 
eral weeks, in consequence of the severity of the 
weather. The Indians had fled from their former 
positions, and were not to be found in any large 
bodies. Some detachments of the troops, however^ 
had a few skirmishes vnth small parties of Indians, 

Colonel James K. Kelly, commanding another body 
of troops (volunteers) was more successful. He came 
upon a large number of the Indians near Walla Walla, 



275 JOURNAL OF 

in the Snake River countr3% and had an engagement, 
which lasted four days, when the Indians fled, leaving 
some thirty-five dead on the field, among others the 
famous chief of the Walla Walla's, Pee-peu-mox-a- 
mox. Colonel Kelly says in his report that there 
were probably some seventy-five of the enemy slain, 
as they were known to carr)- off many of their dead. 
His own loss was five or six killed and several 
wounded. While the difficulties were going on there, 
the Indians in the vicinity of Puget Sound broke out 
and killed some fifteen or twenty settlers. Portions 
of the two companies of the Fourth Infantry, stationed 
at Fort Steilacoom, and one or two companies of vol- 
unteers, w^ent out against them, and finally succeeded 
in driving^ them from the neicfhborhood. In the sev- 
eral skirmishes that they had with the Indians some 
twelve or twenty men were killed, and several officers, 
among whom was Lieutenant Slaughter, Fourth In- 
fantr)-, as before mentioned. 

Whilst these difficulties were sfoinsr on in Washing- 
ton Territory and Eastern Oregon, the Indians, who 
had broken out in Rogue River valley, were doing a 
great deal of mischief; and although the number of 
their warriors has not at an)' one time been over two 
or three hundred, and there have been from five to 
fifteen hundred volunteers and regulars (a small pro- 
portion of the latter) in the field against them, yet 
they have in no instance been fairly whipped, except 
when their number was infinitely less than the whites. 
The fact is, the troops have insurmountable difficulties 
to contend with in fighting Indians in Southern Ore- 
gon. The country is so mountainous and thickly tim- 



^RA/y LIFE. 277 

bered, that the Indians can take their position where- 
ever they please, which is generally impregnable, and 
if pushed too hard are sure to find a way of retreat. 
They also have many good marksmen. In a late 
skirmish on the Applegate, a white man, Dr. Myers, 
was shot at the distance of three hundred yards. In 
this affair the troops had, to all appearances, made 
sure of their foe, by surrounding a log house, in 
which they had secreted themselves. The former 
succeeded in dropping through the root a shell, which 
killed two Indians; but night coming on, they con- 
cluded to keep the house surrounded till morning, 
and then renew the attack. During the night the 
Indians broke through the picket line and made their 
escape. On examination of the house it w^as found 
that the latter had dug pits under the floor, thus, in a 
measure, protecting themselves from the explosion of 
the shell. In almost every instance the Indians of 
that section have managed to evade the utmost vigi- 
lance of the troops. They came off first best at the 
engagement near Cow Creek, when the troops, under 
Colonel Ross and Captain Smith, attacked them with 
a force of nearl)^ four hundred men, as mentioned on 
a preceding page; then again at the crossing of Rogue 
River, where a plan had been arranged to surround 
them; and lastly on the Applegate, where they cer- 
tainly had them in a better position to be cut off than 
will soon be possessed again. Yet they have man- 
aged to kill a good number in all; and it is thought 
that one of the most troublesome bands (Jake's) has 
been entirely exterminated. 

If these same Indians are really coming among us 



2/8 yOURXAL OF 

in main force, it remains to be seen whether we shall 
meet with any better success than our fellow soldiers 
above. All we can do until reinforcements arrive, 
will be to keep the friendly Indians separated from 
the hostile Indians as far as practicable. 

I may here remark that the regulars in Washington 
Territory and Eastern Oregon are at present com- 
manded by Colonel George Wright — General Wool 
having gone to Benicia. The volunteers in Eastern 
Oreo on have elected T. Cornelius as their colonel; 
Colonel Kelly, who had command whilst Colonel 
Nesmith was attending the Legislature, having de- 
clined a nomination. In Middle Oregon Colonel 
Martin commands, and in Southern Oregon the vol- 
unteer battalion have elected Bob Williams as their 
colonel. The appointment of Colonel Martin was 
made by the Governor. The elections of Colonels 
Cornelius and Williams have yet to receive his ap- 
proval. 

To-day an express was received from Lieutenant 
Chandler, dated February 3d, fourteen miles from the 
mouth of the Illinois. He had sent a request to Cap- 
tain Poland for a portion of his command to join him, 
when they would march on to the mouth of the Il- 
linois together. Mr. McGuire, the assistant Indian 
agent, was fearful all the friendly Indians would not 
come in. It is to be regretted that a larger force 
could not have been sent into that neighborhood; for 
the Indians of that portion of the district, seeing that 
the hostile Indians are the stronger party, will be in- 
duced to join them. They are totally ignorant of the 
power of the United States, and imagine that we are 



ARAfY LIFE. 



279 



the only whites in this part of the country with whom 
they will have to contend. 

February yth, ig^O. — I went out this afternoon and 
secured a fine mess of rock oysters. They are found 
on the seashore imbedded in solid rocks, generally of 
the gray sandstone species. The little cavities con- 
taining them have no communication whatever with 
the atmosphere except, perhaps, through the pores of 
the rock; unless the oyster is dead. In the latter 
event there are external openings. Insects probably 
destroy them. Their average size, shell and all, is 
about that of a pullet's ^gg, which they also resemble 
somewhat in shape, except they are flatter, and have 
a much sharper little end. I have never seen them 
anywhere but on this coast. They taste very much 
like the Chesapeake oyster, and have as fine a flavor. 
They are obtained by shivering the rock with a 
hammer. 

In the cove where these oysters were obtained the 
sea otter is occasionally to be seen. In fact I wounded 
one there myself a few weeks ago, which ultimately 
died, and was found by the Indians. It must have 
died shortly after it was shot, and was then carried 
ashore by the tide. It is possible the one found was 
not mine, but as its skin had been pierced by buck- 
shot, and I am the only one, as far as can be ascer- 
tained, who used the latter, it seems pretty evident 
that I killed it. But the finders are, of course, the 
owners. 

The sea otter {enhydra marina) which abounds on 
the Pacific coast from California to Behring's Strait, is 



28o JOURNAL OF 

much larger than the common otter found in Europe 
and the eastern part of North America. Its body is 
about three and one half feet long — its tail fifteen 
inches. The general color is a beautiful maroon 
brown, with a brownish silver-gray to the head, neck 
under part of the fore legs. Its skin is considered the 
finest of all furs, both in texture, softness and dura- 
bility; and commands as much as a hundred dollars in 
the markets of China, Japan, Europe and America. It 
lives in the ocean near the shore in winter, but in sum- 
mer ascends the rivers and enters the fresh water 
lakes. It lives on fish, Crustacea, and sea weed. 

The sea otter is essentially an aquatic animal, 
though it can live in both air and water; although it 
may be found with its head, and even its body, resting 
on a rock, it never ventures on the dry land. When 
cracking a mussel shell, or playing, it swims on its 
back. The same position is assumed by the female 
whilst nursing her young, which are held pretty much 
as a woman holds her brby when nursing it w^hile 
lying down. Her breasts also resemble the human 
female's. When dead the sea otter floats on the 
surface of the water. Many persons follow hunting it 
as a profession on this coast. 

February loth, i85^~'' — This afternoon Lieutenant 
Chandler arrived, having left his detachment in camp, 
under the command of Lieutenant Drysdale, on 
Rogue River, about four miles from its mouth. He, 
in conjunction with Captain Poland's company, and 
Indian agent J. McGuire, succeeded in inducing the 
Shasta-Costahs, and other friendly Indians in the 



ARMY LIFE. 2 8 I 

vicinity of Big Bend, to move further down Rogue 
River. On the first appearance of the troops at the 
mouth of the Illinois, the friendly Indians took to the 
thicket, but were finally all got In. They reported 
that the hostile Indians had moved with their families 
up the Illinois. They will probably make that their 
headquarters, and thence proceed in different direc- 
tions to cut off small parties. It is important that 
they be followed up at once, whilst their provisions 
are scarce, but it will be almost impossible for troops 
to pursue them far up the Illinois, as its banks and 
mountain gorges are woefully inaccessible. However, 
so soon as we receive reinforcements we shall doubt- 
less take a trip against them. 

February ijth, 1336. — Lieutenant Drysdale and 
detachment returned yesterday. The weather for the 
last few days has been as beautiful and mild as I ever 
experienced. The thermometer being generally about 
fifty at seven a. m., and sixty at two p. m. — wind n. w. 
To-night, however, the latter has changed to the s. e., 
and will probably give us another storm. 

Major Reynolds and myself caught fourteen beauti- 
ful salmon trout in a lagoon in this vicinity yesterday; 
but they are not very good at this season; their flesh 
being soft. 



282 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XXI. 

INDIAN TROUBLES ON ROGUE RIVER. 

Uprising of Coast Indians — Terrible IMassacre of Whites — Coast Settlers take 
refuge in temporary fortifications — Narrow escape of Dr. White, Messrs. 
Foster and Smith — Ten Men, sent in a rowboat with Provisions for beseiged 
Whites, are drowned — The Hunter Roland — Strengthening our Fortifications — 
A Detachment from Fort Miner nearly cut to pieces — An Exchange of 
Prisoners — Military Relief for Fort Miner. 

MONDAY, Feb. 25TH, 1856. — Indian troubles 
are augmenting. Captain Ben Wright, the In- 
dian sub- agent. Captain Poland, several volunteers, 
and all the settlers between this and Rogue River, 
except those immediately at the mouth, making about 
twenty-eight in all, have been massacred by the In- 
dians. 

As previously mentioned, the friendly bands from 
the vicinity of Big Bend of Rogue River, had been 
brought lower down the river, so as to keep them 
separated as far as possible from the hostile tribes 
above. Provisions were also issued them by the 
agent, whose intention it was to remove them, to- 
gether with all the tribes in this district, to the Indian 
reserve selected by the superintendent last summer. 
The Indians seemed delighted at the idea of going on 
the reservation. About fifteen of Captain Poland's 
volunteers were kept in the neighborhood to watch 
their movements. On the twenty-second instant five 
of these attended a ball at the mouth of the river. 
On the same day the Indians (those brought from the 



ARMY LIFE. 283 

Big Bend) sent a message to Captain Wright that 
Enas (the traitor) was at their camp, and desired 
Wright to come up immediately, as he wished to 
have a talk with him. The latter returned answer 
that he would meet Enas at a half-way house; and 
accordingly left the same day with Captain Poland for 
the place of assignation. That night the ten volun- 
teers, who were quartered in a shanty directly across 
the river from where the agent and Enas were to 
meet, heard a very suspicious noise in that direction, 
but did not know that anything was wrong till the 
following morning, when their party was attacked 
whilst at breakfast by an overwhelming body of sav- 
ages. They immediately broke for the thicket. So 
far but one of them (C. Foster,) has been heard 
from — and he managed to reach this place. He lay 
secreted in a thicket near the attacked house all day 
Saturday, and saw sufficient of the Indian movements 
that day to satisfy him that all the coast Indians in 
that vicinity had risen against the whites. Foster says 
he killed two Indians with his revolver, and could 
have killed a third, but was afraid the report of the 
pistol would endanger his life. On Saturday night 
he left the thicket, and came as far as Euchre Creek. 
On coming near the ranches there he discovered them 
burnt, and the Euchre Indians holding a war dance. 
Last night he reached this place. Shortly after, a 
schooner arrived from the mouth of the Rogue River 
confirming the report of the outbreak. She left 
yesterday morning; she brought a list of the missing, 
twenty-eight in number. The nearest house burned 
is within fifteen miles of here. 



284 JOURNAL OF 

As the Indians are vastly stronger than the whites, 
even though the bands between this place and the 
Coquille do not join them, and as they are elated by 
almost unprecedented success in upper Rogue River, 
and led on by that rascal Enas, who, from having been 
employed so much by the army as guide, has a perfect 
knowledge of this country and its most assailable points, 
it is feared an attack will be made on the citizens in 
the temporary fortifications at the mouth of Rogue 
River, and perhaps on this place. 

12 o'clock, M. — Two men, supposed to have been 
killed, have found their way in — Dr. White to Rogue 
River, and Mr. Smith to this place. The latter states 
that late on the afternoon of the twenty-second, the 
Euchre Indians, whose encampment was near his house, 
came there, and told them that Seaman (both the lat- 
ter and Dr. White were there on a visit), had killed 
two otter, and wished Warner, a partner of Mr. Smith's, 
to come down there immediately, and bring him two 
rifles. Warner, though not suspecting anything, for 
the Indians had been perfectly friendly, and he knew 
that Seaman was otter hunting, still declined to go. 
Shortly thereafter, the Chief came to him and said that 
he had iound a dead otter, which had floated ashore, 
and wished Warner to come down and see whether it 
was the one which he had killed a few days previously. 
Warner went. Mr. Smith and the Doctor heard a 
shot shortly after Awards, and suspected what was up. 
They ran into the house, which was immediately at- 
tacked by the Indians, and set on fire. This was ex- 
tinguished several times, but the latter finally sue- 



ARMY LIFE. 285 

ceeded in getting it in a full blaze. The two gentlemen 
then broke for the bushes. The bullets rattled around 
them, but they made their escape. Mr. Smith was 
from Friday night till Monday 12 o'clock M., reaching 
Fort Orford, a distance, by the usual trail, of only 
fifteen miles. Of course he kept the thicket all the 
way. 

February 2']tJif iS3^. — For the last few days we 
have been endeavoring to put our post in a condition 
for defence against the enemy should they attack us. 
Most of the buildings are made of cedar plank, and are 
consequently very inflammable, and afford only protec- 
tion against balls. One half of the fort is surrounded 
by a dense forest, through which the Indians can come 
within pistol shot of garrison. Should the enemy 
arrive before we get ourselves in a defensible condi- 
tion, it will be a serious matter. 

Last night there were two alarms — the first one 
false — the second caused by a shot from a sentinel 
down town at four strange Indians seen hoverino- near. 
Things in this district at present are calculated to cause 
much vigilance and anxiety, especially as we have no 
chance of securino- aid from a distance for some time. 

o 

If the steamer gets in to-day or to-morrow, we may be 
able to report our condition to Col. Wright, who has 
probably not yet left Fort Vancouver^ with all of the 
Ninth Regriment. 

We feel much anxiety to hear from Rogue River, 
as large columns of smoke are plainly to be seen rising 
up from the vicinity of the fort erected there by the 
whites of that place. 



283 JOURNAL OF 

February 2St/i, igj^- — The steamer Republic arrived 
here last evening. She was bound for Portland, and had 
gone twenty-five miles beyond Port Orford, and would 
not have stopped had she not caught fire, when this 
port was made, as it was the nearest. The fire caused 
but little damage. A large quantity of ammunition, in- 
tended for Vancouver and this place, was thrown over- 
board. By her we were enabled to inform Col. Wright 
of our critical position. 

This morning a row-boat was dispatched to Rogue 
River, to learn how the settlers, who are there be- 
seiged, are getting on. With a spy-glass, we yes- 
terday thought we could see their fort still standing; 
but the shanties all along the coast seemed to have 
been burnt to the ground. We think that the settlers 
will be able to hold out till the arrival of assistance, yet 
it is strange the schooner has not returned. 

March ist, iSj^- — This morning Mr. McGuire and 
another gentleman, reached here from the mouth of 
Rogue River. They ran a narrow escape, but the 
critical condition of the citizens there, rendered it abso- 
lutely necessary for an express to come through. The 
former states that Captain Tichenor, who left here for 
that place last Sunday night, was unable to get in, on 
account of a strong- wind blowingf at the time. He 
has probably gone to Crescent City for aid. The boat 
that left here day before yesterday, was capsized in at- 
tempting to land, and eight of her ten men met a 
watery grave. He says the Indians have burnt and 
destroyed all the houses and other property in that 
neighborhood, except the fort in which the citizens are 



ARMY LIFE. 287 

now protected. This has been attacked several times, 
but as it is a good building, and situated on the sand 
beach, over a mile from any timber, they will probably 
be able to sustain themselves until the arrival of rein- 
forcements by the next steamer, if any are sent; if not, 
the steamer may stop there and take them away. 

The Indians are represented to be very numerous. 
All the upper Rouge River bands, that have given so 
much trouble near Jacksonville, are believed to be 
present, together with those who have joined them 
in this district. There is not a doubt from what 
has come to light, that the rise of all the Indians in 
this district has been determined on. The only thing 
to prevent the few bands yet professing friendship from 
joining the enemy, will be the timely arrival of rein- 
forcements. We now have three small bands on the 
military reserve, who will remain peaceable just so 
long as the enemy keeps away, and no longer. But 
what can we do? They still profess friendship, and 
say they wish to live in peace with us. Surely we 
can't, under the circumstances, treat them otherwise 
than as friends. It is a difficult matter to get along 
with the Indians when a thirst for revenge has been 
awakened in their breasts, for then they know no dis- 
tinction between foes or friends. A]l whites are then 
alike to them, and deep, hellish treachery and revenge 
becomes the motive powers of all their actions. 

March 4th^ ^85^- — Yesterday, Roland, a celebrated 
hunter, came in from the Coquille. He is very inimi- 
cal to the Indians, who have frequently endeavored to 
kill him; that is, even those now professing friendship, 



288 JOURNAL OF 

and for several months past there have been a few of 
the hostile Indians spying around in his neighborhood, 
three of whom followed his trail the other day. 

The way he caught them in their own game is worthy 
of record. As has always been his custom during dan- 
gerous times, he traveled five or six miles on a certain 
trail, and then went off to one side and struck the same 
again a mile or two back, and examined it to see if he 
was pursued. In this way he soon discovered that 
three Indians were on his trail. Moving along care- 
fully, he came up behind them and shot one; the other 
two broke and ran. The story is believed, because, 
independent of the old fellow's credibility, the action is 
in accordance with his character. His age is about 
sixty-five, and yet he can shoot better than any man 
in this country. A rifle in his hands is held as steadily 
as though it were in a vice. I could relate many dar- 
ing advent ures of which he is the hero, had I space to 
spare, but shall conclude by simply remarking that he 
is a second Daniel Boone. The pioneer of Kentucky 
must have been just such an eccentric specimen of 
humanity. 

False alarms are the order of the nio-ht down in the 
villasfe; but last niMit one of the sentinels there did 
really get a sho^ at an Indian spy; he was within 
twenty feet of him. It is not known whether the 
fellow was struck or not, but, judging from the man- 
ner in which he threw himself over the bank, it is 
thouofht some of the buckshot hit him. His tracks 
were plainly to be seen on the sand beach the next 
morning; also a large knife, which he had dropped, 
was found. 



ARMY LIFE. 289 

We are now enclosing a row of our principal houses 
in a picket fence, made of upright posts, eight feet 
apart, placed around in the form of a rectangular 
parallelogram. Boards are nailed to these both in- 
side and outside, thus leaving a space of six inches 
between them, which is filled with dirt. At intervals 
of about thirty feet port-holes are cut to fire through; 
and also at suitable places there are openings of two 
by two and a half feet for the howitzer. A glacis 
will be thrown up on the outside of the fence. The 
latter will be completed in a few days, when the ord- 
nance and commissary stores will be moved inside, 
and thus be kept secure from the enemy, who will then 
be unable to burn us out; and, in fact, I have no idea 
that they will make an attack when they perceive that 
we are ready for it. 

The steamer is looked for to-morrow. If she brings 
troops they will be immediately despatched to the 
relief of the besieged garrison at the mouth of Rogue 
River. 

March yfh, 185^- — The steamer from above has not 
yet arrived. She is two or three days behind her 
time. Night before last we were all put under arms 
about three o'clock in the morning, as it was believed 
by many that Indians were in the thicket just back of 
the garrison. When daylight broke nothing could be 
seen. Last niofht there were two false alarms down 
town, and one at the mill. The first was caused by a 
sentinel shootincr at another cominof to relieve him — 
the second by one ot the pickets shooting a cow, 
which he mistook for an Indian — the third was the 



290 JOURNAL OF 

accidental discharge of his g-un by a sentinel guarding 
the saw-mill in the vicinity of the post. This morn- 
ing sixteen men arrived from Coos Bay — a coal 
mining region some seventy miles up the coast. 
They learned something had occurred down here, 
and came to find out the particulars. They will 
probably return soon to put the other settlers on 
their guard. 

March gth, 18^6. — A row-boat has just arrived from 
Fort Miner, the temporary fortification of the be- 
sieged citizens at the mouth of Rogue River, and 
brings the following news: — 

On the third or fourth instant a party of seventeen 
men left the fort to bring in some potatoes, about a 
mile distant. They had no idea that the enemy was 
near enough to do them any harm. A sentinel was 
posted in a commanding position, whilst the others 
put the potatoes in the wagon. Before they had 
finished loading, a party of Indians made an attack 
by first shooting the sentinel. A running fight en- 
sued — the whites, being overpowered, were driven 
to the fort, with the loss of four, and two wounded. 
They think several of the enemy were killed — one 
of the chiefs among the number. 

On the sixth instant an exchange of prisoners took 

place; the Indians giving up Mrs. , and her 

two daughters, and the whites four squaws. Mrs. 

says the Indians put her two sons to death, 

but treated her and daughters well. From what she 
was enabled to gather from the Indians, a large 
number of them were killed in their attack and mas- 



AJ^JJY LIFE. 



291 



sacre of the volunteers. The besieg'ed are represented 
as being still about one hundred strong; and have 
provisions for two weeks. Their fort consists of two 
log houses, surrounded by a high embankment of 
earth. They will, no doubt, be able to hold out till 
we can reinforce them. 

It is feared an accident has occurred to the "Re- 
public," or she would have been here several days 
ago, with reinforcements. The steamer from below 
is also due. If neither of them come in we shall all 
be in a perilous position; for our provisions are 
growing short from having to supply the distressed 
citizens in Port Orford, as well as the friendly Indians 
now on the reserve. If the latter are not fed they 
will leave here, and probably join the enemy at once. 
They say they don't wish to unite with the hostile 
Indians, if the whites can give them protection. 

Sunday, gth, 183^- — The steamer "Columbia" ar- 
rived last night at twelve^ and brought us forty-one 
recruits. Major- General Wool and staff were on 
board. The General has ordered three bodies of 
regulars to proceed against the hostile Indians at 
Rogue River, from three different points. One hun- 
dred men, under Captain A. J. Smith, to leave Fort 
Lane on the eleventh instant — one hundred Crescent 
City on the twelfth, and seventy from this post on 
the thirteenth. From our proximity we shall un- 
doubtedly reach the ground first, and may have a 
hard fight; for the enemy are the same (only doubly 
reinforced) who stood their ground against four hun- 



292 JOURNAL OF 

dred volunteers and regulars at the battle of " Hungr) 
Hill," in upper Rogue River valley, last November. 

March nth, i83^- — The "Republic" arrived from 
above on the afternoon of the ninth. She brought 
Captain C. C. Augur's company, seventy-four men, 
Fourth Infantry. She was detained three days in 
crossing the bar of the Columbia. 



« 



II 



ARMY LIFE, 293 



CHAPTER XXII. 

CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE ROGUE RIVER INDIANS. 

Troops move in three divisions against the Indians — A Skirmish at the mouth 
of the Illinois — The Regulars relieve a besieged Company of Volunteers, and 
subsequently the Citizens of Fort iMiner — Skirmish at the mouth of Rogue 
River — Another at Macanuteeny Village — Narrow escape of two Express- 
men — Captain Smith encounters the Indians near the mouth of the Illinois — 
An Expressman decoyed by a Spur — Skirmish with the enemy by the com- 
mands of Major Latshaw and Bruce — Pack Train captured by the Rogue 
River Indians — Also the Horses of Captain George's Company of Volun- 
teers — Captain Keyes defeats the enemy at Muckle Chute Prairie — 1 am 
Kanasket, and I hate you" — Massacre at the Cascades. 

MARCH 14TH, 1856. — Portions of Company H, 
Third Artillery, and G, Fourth Infantry, in all 
one hundred and two men, under the command of 
Captain Christopher C. Augur, left Port Orford this 
morning to act against the Rogue River Indians. 
The officers are Captain C. C. Augur, Fourth In- 
fantry; Bat.-Major John F. Rignod, Third Artillery; 
Lieutenant Robert Macfeeby, Fourth Infantry; Lieu- 
tenant John Drysdale, Third Artillery, and myself — 
also some fifteen guides and packers. 

It having rained on the thirteenth, and also some 
little to-day, the trail is muddy and slippery. It is 
also exceedingly hilly and rough, and lined the most 
of the way with thick timber. The command are 
obliged to march in single file. Having to wade 
streams, (one. Brush Creek, seventeen times) they are 
kept wet up to their knees. 

We arrived in camp at the " Half Breed's House," 



294 JOURNAL OF 

(now vacant) ten miles from Fort Orford, about sun- 
down. Not being able to get a good supply of pack 
animals, and not knowing how long we should be in 
the field, we have brought Avith us nothing but abso- 
lute necessaries — not even tents. The latter will be 
considered necessary before the trip is over, for I 
have no idea that we shall be able to return from 
the field for several months — in the meantime we 
shall probably be able to get tents. For the present, 
however, we must endure the weather whatever it 
may be. On arriving here we captured a squaw, who 
says she is on her way to join her tribe near Port 
Orford. She further states that the upper Rogue 
River Indians, and the coast tribes, have been quar- 
elling, and that the former have gone up the river, 
taking most of the plunder with them; and that the 
traitor Enas is yet with the latter. Her report is 
considered suspicious. She will be sent to Fort 
Orford — to be kept awhile in custody. 

Su7iday, March i^th, 185'^' — We came about fifteen 
miles yesterday over an exceedingly rough trail. The 
first three miles of our way lay through thick fir 
timber — then seven miles of dense undergrowth of 
chinkepin, whortleberry, large or true laurel, and rho- 
dodendron — the remainder of the trail rail through a 
dense growth of fir, with the exception of half a mile 
of peculiar species of oak, on the south hill of Fuchre 
Creek. 

The march was a hard one — several of the men 
and animals giving out in ascending Euchre hill, the 
ascent of which is three or four miles. Six mules and 



ARM\ LIFE. 295 

packs left behind ; also one man. We sent back last 
night for the latter, but he had risen from the spot 
where he was last seen lying. We shall remain in 
camp at this place to-day, and endeavor to find the 
man as well as the mules. The latter are probably 
several miles in the rear. Yesterday our hunters 
killed a fat deer. 

Our camp is some three or four thousand feet above 
the ocean, which lies plainly in view some fifteen miles 
to the west. The surrounding landscape is very pic- 
turesque. Some of the mountain peaks are whitened 
with snow, others covered with green grass. The 
highest points seen yesterday were Iron Mountain to 
the east. Bald Mountain west, and Illinois Mountain 
southeast. Portions of the first and second can be 
seen from this camp. 

March lyth. — After a diligent search yesterday, we 
were unable to find the poor fellow we left behind. 
The packers were more successful, however, having 
found all their mules and packs, otherwise many of the 
command would have had no blankets to protect them 
from the inclemency of the weather. As it was, we all 
got wet from the rain. The act of sleeping on the 
ground of a rainy night, without tents, is not the most 
agreeable thing in the world. 

We left the Bark Shanty camp this morning at 10 
o'clock, and reached our present one at 3.30 p.m. The 
ascent on the side of Lobster Creek is about three 
miles, and so steep that pack animals can scarcely 
climb it. We have come eight miles, most of the 
way through a forest of fir timber. 



296 JOURNAL OF 

From our present position, we could see Rogue 
River and the ocean, were it not so foggy. The fog, 
which Hes along the water-courses many hundred feet 
below us looks very beautiful, as the sun, which is set- 
ting clear, adds to its charms. The snow-capped 
mountains of the Illinois shine with brilliant splendor. 
Altogether, it is the most beautiful landscape I have 
ever seen. 

March igth^ ^855- — Camp on north side of Rogue 
River, opposite the mouth ot the Illinois. We arrived 
here yesterday at 4 p. m., having traveled fourteen 
miles, the most of the way through timber and dense 
undercrrowth. On descendino- the mountain, immedi- 
ately on Rogue River, we passed around a hill with a 
slope so steep, that the least misstep would have sent 
the rider one thousand feet below. Fortunately, no 
accident occurred at that point. 

The view from the crest of the mountain was grand. 
From there we could, with our spy-glasses, see the 
mouth of the Illinois, on the east bank of which, near 
its junction with Rogue River, we also beheld Indians. 
We moved cautiously forward, and arriving at our 
present camp, and tying the animals, three detach- 
ments v/ere sent to attack the enem)^ who were seen 
on the opposite bank of Rogue River, only two hun- 
dred and fifty yards from our camp. One of the de- 
tachments went as close as the river would permit, and 
opened a fire of small arms, which was followed in a 
few seconds by a howitzer, under Major Reynolds. 
The Indians fled across the Illinois in canoes. When 
they got across the river in the thick timber, on the 




ilGHTING THE INDIANS.— Page 283. 



ARMY LIFE. 297 

opposite side of Rogue River to us, they commenced 
a random fire up6n us while we were burning their 
ranches, which were mostly on our side of the river. 
Much dried salmon and acorns were destroyed in these 
ranches, which constituted the Macanuteeney village. 
The Indians, feeling themselves secure for the time in 
the forest on the opposite side of the riv^er, which is at 
this point only about seventy-five yards wide, and 
which we had no means of crossing, kept up an occa- 
sional firing~during the evening, and then again early 
this morning, but are poor shots, or else they would 
have done us some injury. A few of their balls came 
whizzing uncomfortably near us while we were at break- 
fast. 

It is supposed we killed four in the skirmish yester- 
day. Their ranches on this side of the river had every 
indication of having been hastily abandoned, and as 
there was a canoe of provisions lying on the opposite 
side of the river, it is thought the Indians were aware 
of our approach. They probably saw us when we 
were passing around the steep slope a few miles back. 
It is here we were to join the troops from Crescent 
City, under the command of brevet-Lieut. Col. R. C. 
Buchanan. He should have arrived four days ago; 
but from all we can now learn, it is highly probable 
that he has been unable to take the route indicated in 
General Wool's order, and has likely marched directly 
for the mouth of the river, to the relief of Fort Miner. 
As we have no idea of his whereabouts, we shall start 
this morning for the mouth of the river. 

The Indians have been firing upon us this morning 
from the opposite side of Rogue River, and we have 



298 JOURNAL OF 

returned their fire. It would be impossible to route 
them from that position, unless we had some means of 
crossing the stream. And as we are not aware how 
long the besieged citizens can hold out without assist- 
ance, it is thought useless and imprudent to tarry here 
three or four days in building a flat boat to cross the 
river, and then probably be unable to bring the enemy 
to a fair fight. 

Afternoon, March igtk, ig^d. — Camp four miles 
from mouth of Illinois. Got here at three p. m. ; men 
and animals nearly worn out, The hill we have just 
climbed, is about three miles long and very steep. 
Just before reaching the foot of it, there was a very 
high bluff bank of a ditch to ascend. Many of the 
pack animals fell and rolled down into the ditch, the 
mule on which the howitzer was packed, being among 
the number. Some of the saddle animals, with their 
riders, met with the same accident. 

" Soldiers Cmnp^' March 20th ^ ^85^- — This is the 
same camp we made on the evening of the 17th. In- 
dians have been seen in our rear to-day, watching our 
movements. The hunters killed two deer yesterday, 
and the same number this morning. 

Late this afternoon dense columns of smoke have 
been seen ascendino- from the south bank of the 
mouth of Rogue River; and just at sundown two 
flames were observable, one succeeding the other in 
quick succession, and followed in about three minutes 
by reports like those of cannon. Colonel Buchanan 
has probably arrived at the mouth of the river, and 



AJ?Afy LIFE. 299 

had a fight with the Indians. The flashes and reports 
were perhaps from his howitzer, and the smoke from 
the burning Indian ranches. But as Captain Augur 
is not sure of this, he will move from here to-morrow 
to where the Rogue River trail turns off, and thence 
send an express to Fort Orford, to learn, if possible, 
the whereabouts of the Colonel, who may have sent 
some orders to the post for him. 

March 22d, 1336 — 12 m. — We are now encamped 
at the junction of the Rogue River with the Illinois 
trail. This morning, at four a. m., an express of two 
men — Walker and Middleman — arrived from Colonel 
Buchanan, who is, with his command of one hundred 
and twenty men, at the mouth of Rogue River, on 
this side, having arrived there on the morning of the 
twenty-first. He had reached the opposite side on 
the previous evening, and had a slight skirmish with 
the Indians. We were right in our conjectures about 
the burninof ranches and firing of the howitzers — it 
was dark, however, at the mouth of Rogue River 
when the latter were fired, although only sundown to 
us on the mountains — hence the flashes of light so 
plainly visible. 

It appears that the Colonel's command did not 
leave Crescent City until the fifteenth, instead of 
the eleventh, as directed by General Wool; and 
deeming it impracticable to reach the Illinois by the 
route directed by the General, he marched directly 
for the mouth of Rogue River, where he arrived on 
the evening of the twentieth. 

On the third day out he relieved a company of 



300 JOURNAL OF 

thirty-three volunteers, who, being mounted, had 
gone in advance of the regulars, but were attacked 
by the Indians, and retreated as far as they could, 
and then threw themselves in a temporary breast- 
work, made of driftwood, on the sand beach. The 
Indians surrounded them there, and approached the 
fort by means of logs, which they rolled before 
them. They came boldly up within thirty yards of 
the volunteers, and stole all their horses. The com- 
pany was kept in this perilous position for nearly two 
days — the numbers of the enemy constantly increas- 
ing. On the* approach of the regulars the Indians 
retreated, having no dead on the field. The volun- 
teers think they killed ten or fifteen; they lost one 
man. 

The advance guard of the regulars met with a few 
Indians on the next day, and wounded one so badly 
that his comrade had to lash him on the horse. They 
saw no more of them after this until reaching the 
mouth of the river. There the main body of Indians 
had taken a position in a deep ditch, dug by the 
whites for mining purposes. Their presence was not 
known till they commenced firing upon the Colonel 
and his staff, who had gone a little in advance to 
select a camp. The surgeon. Dr. Hillman, had his 
hat knocked off, and his coat cut in two places; but 
no one was hurt. The troops, who had in the mean- 
time come up, were ordered to make a charge. After 
the firing of a few shots, and the discharge of one or 
two howitzers, the enemy fled. One of the privates 
of the command found on his way up a piece of gold 
worth forty-five dollars. It was picked up on a hill- 



ARMY LIFE. 30 1 

side just below Pistol Creek, some twenty miles from 
the mouth of Rogue River. 

The Colonel thinks we are at the mouth of the Il- 
linois, and has ordered us to join him at the earliest 
moment — Tuesday, if possible. Captain Augur will 
send the express back to-night to inform the Colonel 
of our proximity, and that we shall march from here 
at twelve to-night, and endeavor to reach the point 
where the trail turns off to the Macanuteneey ranch 
by six to-morrow morning, and there await his orders. 
As the main body of Indians are supposed to be be- 
tween that ranch and the Tututeeney village, four 
miles below, we may have a fight before making a 
junction with the Colonel. 

Monday, March 24th^ ^85^- — Camp mouth of Rogue 
River. Three expressmen having been sent forward 
on the night of the 2 2d instant, to inform Col. B. of 
our intended movement to the vicinity of the Maca- 
nuteneey village, and of our hope of hearing from him 
there by six a. m. of the 23d. We took up our line of 
march at i| a. m., and reached the spot designated, by 
7 A. M., and not yet hearing from Col. B. The com- 
manding ofihcer sent forward another expressman (Mc- 
Guire), with instructions to return if possible by 10 or 
1 1 A. M. We consequently remained there without 
unpacking our mules until 12 m., and receiving no infor- 
mation. Captain Augur ordered his command to start 
on for the mouth of the river. Our road was as 
mountainous as usual, but not so thickly timbered; the 
day warm; many of the men gave out. I let one of 
them have my horse, and consequently, had to walk 



202 JOURNAL OF 

ten miles over the roughest portion of the road, and 
in the hottest part of the day. 

We passed several houses which had been plundered 
and burnt by the Indians, in the massacre of the 2 2d 
and 23d of February, and saw several dead bodies of 
the unfortunate settlers who had been so brutally mur- 
dered. 

On reaching the Colonel's camp, we were informed 
of his intention to have sent the express back last 
night, and that he intended making a conjoined move- 
ment against the enemy early this morning; but as our 
detachment is pretty well worn down by hard march- 
ing, the movement will be postponed a day or so. 

Tuesday, March 2jth^ ^85^- — ^^ consequence of 
stormy weather, we are still in camp. Small parties 
were sent out this morning to bury the bodies of those 
persons recently murdered; and the little schooner 
" Gold Beach" has been chartered to convey the 
females belonging to the Citizen Fort, to Port Orford. 
She left here at eleven a. m., having on board twenty- 
two adults and fourteen children. 

March 2Sth, igj^- — On the afternoon of the twenty- 
fifth, Lieutenant Drysdale, with a small detachment, 
was ordered up the opposite side of the river a short 
distance, to reconnoitre the enemy, but returned with- 
out being able to see any Indians. 

On the morning of the twenty-sixth, a detachment 
of troops were ordered on each side of the river, to 
proceed as far as Macanuteneey village, and after 
burning it, to return to camp. If either party fell in 



ARMY LIFE. 303 



with the enemy, it was to have been aided, if possible, 
by the other. 

The command on the north bank consisted of Cap- 
tain E. O. C. Ord, Third Artillery; Captain Delancey 
F. Jones, Fourth Infantry; Lieutenant Jno. Drysdale, 
Third Artillery; Dr. Hillman and 115 men, being B 
Co. Third Artillery, and F Co. Fourth Infantry. On 
the south bank, Capt. C. C. Augur, Fourth Infantry, 
myself and about seventy men. 

As it was supposed Captain Ord would have sev- 
eral miles further to go than Augur, the latter started 
an hour or two later than the former. Captain Ord's 
command reached the Macanuteeney village about four 
p. M., and not seeing any Indians proceeded at once 
to burn the ranches. This being accomplished he 
marched his men a few hundred yards up the hill; 
that is, back from the village, which was situated im- 
mediately on the river; and then dividing his com- 
mand in two or three detachments, kept them on the 
lookout for Indians. A few of the men, and the 
guides, in the meantime endeavored to catch some 
horses near by, supposed to belong to the enemy. 
Suddenly a party of Indians rushed out from the 
thicket towards the troops' blankets, and fired at the 
men guarding them. Fortunately Lieutenant Drys- 
dale's party, whom the Indians did not seem to 
be aware, was near by, met them with a heavy 
discharge of small arms. The enemy faltered and 
fell back a short distance, when Captain Ord ordered 
a charge, with the view of driving the enemy from 
their position. This was a difficult maneuver, but was 
handsomely accomplished. The Indians were evi- 



304 JOURNAL OF 

dently surprised at this movement — it being so differ- 
ent from what they had ever seen done by Americans 
before. So, after they were driven from their hiding 
places a few times, they sprang in their canoes, and 
crossed the river; leaving eight dead on the field. 
The Indians fought bravely, but are evidently bad 
shots; as, up to the time of their retreating, they had 
only wounded one soldier. The enemy being de- 
feated, Captain Ord left for the camp at the mouth 
of the river, but intended going but a short distance 
to encamp that evening. 

After marching a little ways, Sergeant Nash, of B 
company, whilst helping one of the men who had 
laeeed behind the command, was fired at by an un- 
seen foe, and wounded in the left hypochondrium. 
Of course no Indians could be seen. The Sergeant's 
wound was so dangerous as to determine the Captain 
to continue on to the main camp, to have him proper- 
ly cared for. In the meantime Captain Augur's com- 
mand proceeded up the other side of the river for four 
miles, when some Indians were spied a few hundred 
yards off, who immediately commenced whooping and 
yelling. We confidently expected to get a fight from 
the main body, whom we suspected to be lying in 
ambush for us. So throwing out flankers, and ad- 
vance parties, as well as the nature of the country 
would permit, for we were marching through dense 
timber, we moved along briskly, but cautiously, until 
we got opposite the Macanuteneey village, which was 
seen to be burnt. We could then see a few Indians 
several miles ahead of us, on a high hill, but deemed it 
useless to attempt pursuit. Having heard a few shots 



AJ?MV LIFE. 305 

in the direction of the burnt village, when we were 
four or five miles back, and afterwards observing a 
smoke rising from its site, and now seeing it burnt, 
we very naturally concluded that Ord had had a 
skirmish, and having defeated the enemy, and burnt 
the ranches, had returned. It was then nearly dark, 
we having marched ten miles instead of five — in other 
words the distance was just twice as far as the Colonel 
had been told it was. So having accomplished our 
orders we captured a canoe, and sending three men to 
camp with it, we countermarched about a mile, and 
then encamped for the night — with neither tents, 
blankets or overcoats. The clouds indicated a heavy 
rain, which commenced about midnight, and drenched 
us thoroughly. We had brought in our haversacks a 
cold snack — after devouring which, we slept moderate- 
ly well. Our day's march on foot had been a hard 
one, and gave a zest to rest of any kind. Being chief 
of the medical staff in this command, I am, of course, 
entitled to horses — but the nature of the service is 
such as frequently to deprive everybody of the privi- 
lege of riding — thus in my case several times. About 
eleven o'clock at night the sentinel (and whole picket 
guard in that direction) hearing some one stealing up 
to camp, challenged and fired. Whatever, or who- 
ever, it was, ran off — thus making a narrow escape. 

Leaving camp at daylight the next morning, we 
reached headquarters, at the mouth of the river, by 
noon; and then learned that Captain Ord had arrived 
but a few hours previously, and had had a fight. This 
fiofht of his is the most interestinor which has occurred 
during the Southern Oregon war — as it is the first time 



20 



3o6 JOURNAL OF 

that Indians, when in a good position in the timber, 
have been driven back. It has been the custom here- 
tofore, with the vohmteers especially, on meeting 
with the enemy, behind trees, to take to the latter 
also, and pop away at an unseen foe, until all the am- 
munitions, or perhaps provisions, were exhausted, and 
then to withdraw; it being considered impossible to 
drive the Indians from a good position behind logs 
and trees. 

March 2gtk, iS5^' — As it is thought Captain Smith 
may be at the Big Bend of Rogue River by this time, 
an express of two men, Oliver Cantle and Charles 
Foster, was sent a few days since to communicate 
with him if possible; it is time they had returned. 
Yesterday a train of eighty pack animals, escorted 
by Major Reynolds with twenty men of company H, 
left for Fort Orford to bring provisions. Lieutenant 
McFeeley and Dr. Hillman accompanied them, and 
are to remain at Fort Orford. The former relieves 
the A. A. O. M. there, Lieutenant Chandler, who 
will act as Colonel Buchanan's Aid. The Colonel 
and Lieutenant D. also went along, but will return. 

The officers who have thus far reported for duty, 
the field with this command are: — Brevet Lieutenant- 
Colonel R. C. Buchanan, commanding district of Ore- 
gon and Northern California; Captain E. O. C. Ord, 
Third Artillery; Captain C. C. Augur, Fourth Infantry; 
Brevet-Major John F. Reynolds, Third Artillery; Cap- 
tain Delancey Floyd Jones, Fourth Infantry; Second 
Lieutenant George P. Ihrie, Third Artillery; Second 
Lieutenant John Drysdale, Third Artillery; Dr. Hill- 



ARMY LIl^E. 



307 



man and myself. Dr. Hillman has been relieved from 
duty. 

Yesterday, the little schooner "Gold Beach," from 
Fort Orford, being unable to enter the mouth of Rogue 
River, was beached a few hundred yards from camp 
on the opposite side of the river. Forty men were 
detailed to get her off, but have been unsuccessful thus 
far. They will, no doubt, succeed in the course of the 



Sunday, March 30th, i85^- — The " Gold Beach' ' 
was got off yesterday^ and it is now safely anchored 
in the mouth of the river. The wind, which has been 
blowing from the southeast for the last few days, has 
increased to a perfect storm, accompanied by frequent 
showers of rain. Thanks to Colonel B., we are now 
permitted the shelter of tents, brought from Crescent 
City. It is amusing to observe the numerous seals 
"skylarking" and feeding in the mouth of the river; 
their bark is very similar to that of a dog. Sea otters 
may also be seen in the surf. 

The expressmen sent to the Big Bend returned 
yesterday afternoon, not having seen or heard any- 
thing from Captain Smith's command. Their mules 
gave out a few miles from here, and they had to go 
all the way on foot. This was fortunate, perhaps, as 
they might otherwise have been pursued ; a party of 
twelve or sixteen Indians on horseback having passed 
by them at night. As this was the night of the same 
day of Ord's fight with the Indians, and as they were 
on the trail towards the mouth of the Illinois, it is 
possible they were fleeing from the troops. 



3o8 JOURNAL OF 

April 2, 185^- — Yesterday was bright and sunny ; 
to-day the wind and rian comes in fitful blasts from 
the southeast, making everybody uncomfortable. We 
may bless our stars that we have tents — though the 
wind seems intent on dashing them down — the rain- 
drops tumble through occasionally, to let us know 
they are knocking without. But, after all, we feel as 
happy as usual. Happiness consists of a strange 
compound of elements. For my part, I am in as 
fine spirits as ever in my life. Not that I am fond 
of the hard and toilsome marches we have to make 
over these mountains, but the appreciation of rest and 
food afterwards is so keen and delightful. We now 
enjoy a slice of ham, or even pork, with as much gusto 
as the idle loafer in our large cities does his daintiest 
bonnes bouches. 

April ^th, 1S5^' — The storm has intermitted — the 
wind being this morning from the north. 'Tis pleas- 
ant to see the sun once more. We learn that Captain 
Smith's command has reached Fort Orford, totally 
without provisions, and nearly naked. He reached 
the mouth of the Illinois, on the south side of Rogue 
River, about the twenty-second of March, and had a 
skirmish with a small party of Indians — probably the 
same Indians we drove across the river. He destroy- 
ed several ranches, and everything in them. The 
Indians had evidently been surprised, and ran off 
leaving everything behind. Two sacks of Oregon 
flour, and many other articles stolen by them in the 
massacre at the mouth of the river, were found 
in their huts, I feel more confident now than ever 



^ARMY LIFE. 309 

that the Indians saw our approach on the nineteenth 
of March, and had succeeded in conveying across 
the river much of their plunder before we reached 
the ground. 

The "Columbia" touched at Port Orford on her 
upward trip on the morning of the ninth, at two 
o'clock, having on board General Wool, Colonel 
Ripley, Colonel Nauman and Lieutenant Arnold. 

Our expressman, Captain Tichenor, on reaching 
Euchre Creek, eight miles from here, saw a body of 
Indians ahead of him — he returned to the '''Half 
Breed's House" and got some volunteers, who hap- 
pened to be there, to accompany him to within a few 
miles of our camp. Yesterday Captain Bledsoe, who 
was in Fort Orford, dispatched a messenger to tell the 
volunteers, who were waiting for him at the "Half 
Breed's Shanty," to return to Rogue River. The 
expressman having communicated his orders, and 
started on his return to Port Orford, saw lying in 
the trail a spur, which he dismounted to pick up, 
when several shots were fired at him. Jumping on 
his horse he hurried back and overtook the volun- 
teers about half way between there and the Miner's 
Fort, which is now occupied by them. He believes 
he saw forty Indians. Captain Ord's company was 
dispatched this morning to break up this ambuscade, 
as it is on our only road of communication between 
this place and Fort Orford. The part of the trail 
infested b}'- them is only seven miles from the latter 
fort, and consequently Captain Smith might clear the 
trail if we could get an express to him — but this is 
difficult. Captain Smith's company will be ordered 
to leave Fort Orford on Monday for our camp. 



2IO , JOURNAL OF 

Major Latshaw, with one hundred volunteers, met 
the enemy on the twenty-third of February, on the 
head waters of the Coquille, and killed ten of them, 
with a loss of three of the former. On the twenty- 
third of March, Major Bruce, with two companies of 
volunteers, had a skirmish with the Indians between 
Deer Creek and the Illinois River, killing four, and 
losing no men. The above news comes in a Jack- 
sonville paper, called the Table Rock. 

The Indians have lately cut off a pack train be- 
tween Crescent City and Jacksonville — killing one or 
two men, and taking mules, provisions and everything 
else — twenty-five pounds of powder included. At an- 
other point Captain George's company of mounted 
volunteers went out to chastise a body of Indians, 
whom they expected to surprise in a good place for 
fighting. Leaving their animals tied without any 
guard, they marched quietly up a hill, expecting to 
fall upon the enemy on the other side. After pro- 
ceeding a short distance, and looking behind, they 
beheld the Indians running off with the troops' horses. 

On the first of March a command of one hundred 
regulars, under Captain E. D. Keyes, Third Artillery, 
had an encounter with a body of Indians near Muckle 
Chute Prairie, on White River, in the vicinity of 
Puget Sound, Washington Territory. It was with 
the same Indians that attacked Seattle a few weeks 
ago. The expedition was fitted out under Lieutenant- 
Colonel Silas Casey, of the Ninth Infantry, who com- 
mands that district. He commanded the main force 
on this occasion, but sent detachments out in different 
directions, to concentrate near Muckle Chute Prairie. 



ARMY LIFE. 



311 



Lieutenant A. V. Kautz, with a detachment of com- 
pany A, Fourth Infantry, and H, Ninth Infantry, (the 
latter under the immediate command of Lieutenant D. 
B. McKibbin) fell in with the enemy. He immediately 
dispatched an express to Colonel Casey, who was sup- 
posed to be several days off, Kautz had his men in 
the driftwood, and the Indians theirs in the timber, 
until the arrival of Captain Keyes' Third Artillery, 
with a reinforcement of fifty men. The troops then 
charged, and drove the Indians from all the positions 
taken by them, and gained a complete victory. The 
regulars had one man killed, Lieutenant Kautz, and 
eight men wounded. The Indians carried off their 
dead — but the friendly Indians say the troops killed 
seventeen and wounded twenty — among the latter 
their principal chief, Leshi. 

The Indians fled, and appeared to have left the 
neighborhood entirely. But about the tenth the picket 
perceived an Indian crawling up with the view of fir- 
ing into camp. He fired whilst the latter was in the 
act of beckoning to his men to go back, and wounded 
him in the shoulder. He was brought into camp, and 
recognized as one of their principal chiefs — Kannasket. 
On being asked if he were not, he answered '' yes^ I 
am Kannasket, and I hate yozi." Soon after this fir- 
ing was heard, and the troops supposing an attack, 
one of their men shot the chief dead. 

About the fifth of March, the volunteers were at- 
tacked by the Indians in the vicinity of White River. 
The Indians were defeated, leaving one man dead on 
the field. The particulars I have not learned. 

On the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth of March 



^^12 ■ JOURNAL OF 

the Cascades, on the Columbia River, were attacked 
by the Indians. Some twelve of the inhabitants were 
massacred; the others took refuge in a blockhouse, 
and were relieved in the course of two days by Colonel 
Wright^s command of United States troops. Sixteen 
of the Indians were captured, and fifteen of them were 
to be hung. All the plunder was retaken. Two 
soldiers were killed and several wounded. 

The Cascades is a very important place between 
Fort Vancouver and the Dalles. The Indians had 
planned their attack well, as Colonel Wright with the 
Ninth Regiment, had left the Dalles but a few days 
previously, expecting to find the enemy in an entirely 
different direction. The Indians, however, supposed 
the troops were further off than they really were. 



AKMY Lir-E. 



C>'j 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

RETURN TO PORT ORFORD CAUSES OF INDIAN HOS- 
TILITIES. 

In the hold of a Schooner with the Hatches battened down, during a Storm — 
Bledsoe waylays and kills a number of Indians — Names of the Hostile 
Tribes — Causes of the War — Some of the Coast Indians desire Peace — Gen- 
eral Wool and the Governors of Oregon and Washington Territories at Cross 
Purposes — Indians desiring to Interview an Enemy, first send an old Squaw — 
A Brush with the Indians at Chetcoe — An Indian lynched at Port Orford. 

Fort Orford, April 14th, 1856. 

ORDERS being issued for my return to Fort Or- 
ford to take charge of the General Hospital at 
that post, I left camp at the mouth of Rogue River at 
six p. M. yesterday, in the schooner *'Gold Beach," and 
reached here last niorht about ten o'clock. 

The trip was unusually disagreeable, owing to the 
vessel being so exceedingly small, and so crowded 
with passengers, besides the sick and wounded men I 
was taking to the General Hospital. The weather 
was unusually stormy and squally, and everybody sea- 
sick. This was rendered more unpleasant by the cap- 
tain's keeping us all below, on account of the rain, and 
our being in the way on deck. The most perilous 
part of the trip was in coming over the bar, and 
through the breakers at the mouth of Rogue River. 
The course of the river at the mouth having changed 
greatly in the previous few days, it was considered a 
very hazardous undertaking to cross the bar for the 



314 yOURXAL OF 

first time, besides we were all kept below and the 
hatches closed, thus cutting off all chance of life to 
even eood swimmers, in event of strikinq- the bar and 
being capsized by the breakers, which were unusually 
heavy on account of the storm that was rising. Our 
captain knew nothing about sailing, never having had 
charge of a vessel before. 

On reaching Fort Orford (eighteen miles), the cap- 
tain commenced firing guns to let the people know of 
our arrival, so that a boat might come to us. After a 
few shots our signal was answered from the fort. The 
people down town hearing the firing, and not knowing 
its origin, betook themselves to their block-house, 
thinking the Indians close upon them. 

Captain Andrew J. Smith's company, ist Dragoons, 
will leave this afternoon for Rogue River. He has 
with him Dr. Charles H. Crane, United States Army, 
and First Lieutenant N. B. Sweitzer, First Dragoons. 
These will join Colonel Buchanan's command. Lieu- 
tenant J. C. Bonnycastle, Fourth Infantry, and Assist- 
ant Surgeon J. J. INIilham, United States Army, are 
now at Crescent City under orders also to join the 
command. 

Fort Orford, April 25th, 1S56. 

The steamship "Columbia" arrived yesterday morn- 
ing at daybreak, and discharging about one hundred 
and fifteen tons of freight, most of which were army 
supplies, left for Portland. 

April 2Sth, isj)6. — Yesterday, Captain Augur's com- 
pany escorted a mule train to this post for provisions; 



A/^A/V LIFE. 3 I 2 

a train had also left for Crescent City for supplies, 
escorted by Captain Floyd Jones' company. Captain 
Ord's company was despatched from the mouth of the 
river on the twenty-seventh, to reinforce Floyd Jones 
before he should have arrived at the most dangerous 
point. He did not start, however, until the return of 
Captain Smith and Brevet-Major Reynolds, who, with 
their respective companies, had been ordered up dif- 
ferent sides of Rogue River, to scout and spy out the 
enemy. On the third day's march, a snow storm 
caught them, and the snow falling in places a foot 
deep, they were compelled to return to camp. A 
party of twelve volunteers accompanied Captain Smith 
on the north side of the river, some of whom left camp 
at daylight on the morning of the second day, and ap- 
proaching Rogue River at the mouth of Lobster Creek, 
about one half mile from camp, perceived two canoes, 
with, as they supposed, twelve "bucks" and two 
squaws, moving down the river. The Captain (Bled- 
soe), ordered his men to secrete themselves behind a 
large rock on the bank, and fire at the Indians as they 
came alongside. Fortunately for their purposes, the 
river forms at this point a sort of eddy, which the 
canoes took, thus approaching within a few yards of 
the volunteers, and moving slowly through the eddy, 
they were fired upon, having several of their number 
killed, and the others capsized. The volunteers re- 
loaded and killed several more, they think in all, 
eleven men and one squaw. The Indians' guns were 
lost in the water, and their canoes floated down the 
river, one of them lodging but a short distance below. 
Bledsoe, of course, desired to secure the latter, but as 



I 6 JOCRXAL OP 



his detachment was too small to cope against a large 
body of the enemy, he prudently retired before the 
latter was reinforced, and joined Captain's Smith's 
command again, having already accomplished sufficient 
for one day. 

April 2gth, 1356 . — The bands of Indians in South- 
ern Oregon, at present in open hostilities against the 
whites, are: First — in the Port Orford district, the 
Shasta-Costahs, Casataneys, Tootooteeneys, Chet- 
cos, Euchres, Joshua band. Second — on upper Rogue 
River, Taltassaneys, Applegates, (Old John's band) 
Shastahs, Galisecreeks, (pronounced Galeescreeks) 
George and Limpy's bands. The following tribes in 
Washington Territory and Eastern Oregon, are 
hostile: — the Cayuses, Clickitats, Yakimas, Chow- 
chillas, Yumatillas, Walla Wallas and Pelouses. 

In regard to the causes of the present general In- 
dian war in the Territories of Washino-ton and Ore- 
gon there are, and will probably always be, two 
opinions. Several of the Indian agents are disposed 
to lay the blame mostly on the whites — while the 
latter think that the Indians are the guilty parties. 
In support of the first belief, so far as it relates to 
the trouble in Southern Oregon, Indian agent Am- 
brose reports to Superintendent Joel Palmer, that the 
immediate cause of the outbreak was the killing, by 
a party of men calling themselves volunteers, of a 
number of friendly Indians. This statement, going 
broadcast over the land, is calculated to give a wrong 
impression as to the character of the settlers of 
Oregon. The truth is, that the permanent residents 



A/?3JV LIFE. 



317 



of the latter, and her sister Territory, Washington, 
have always, so far as I can learn, been particularly 
kind and considerate toward the red men. Being 
mostly frontiersmen from our Western States, having 
their families with them, they, aside from moral con- 
siderations, know the danger of maltreating the re- 
vengeful savage. 

The Indians have among themselves a large number 
of reckless and bad men, who, disregarding the re- 
straints of their chiefs, are constantly stealing from, 
and committing other lawless acts upon, their white 
neighbors, who sometimes are forced, in self-defence, 
to put a stop to their aggressions in other modes be- 
side moral suasion. It is, nevertheless, undeniable 
that among the large floating population of miners in 
the two Territories, there are a few vagabond whites, 
who treat the Indians harshly. It is probable that 
the party referred to by the Indian agent were of this 
class. Still there is no reason for attaching the blame 
to either party exclusively; for the notions, habits, and 
moral relations, of the Indians and whites are so dia- 
metrically antagonistic that it is simply impossible for 
them to live side by side for many years without con- 
tentions. This has been the case ever since the earli- 
est settlement of North America. 

Whilst acts of brutality, between the two races, are 
usually the proximate causes of most of the disturb- 
ances, yet there are predisposing agents behind all 
these. Such, for instance, on the northwest coast, as 
the donation laws of Congress, giving away to white 
settlers — half breed Indians included — all of the most 
valuable lands in the Territories of Washingfton and 



31 8 JOURNAL OF 

Oregon, without first extinguishing by treaty the 
possessory rights of the aborigines. So long as the 
latter were permitted to retire in peace to good fishing 
and hunting grounds, they yielded without much 
grumbling. In course of time, however, their new 
abodes became desirable to the whites, and the gov- 
ernment was induced to make the Indians move aorain 
by offering them a moderate consideration, and future 
partial support for a certain number of years. 

Is it not the most natural thino- in the world for the 
red man to chafe under these repeated efforts at 
changing his abode from the homes and graves of 
his kindred? It requires but a little cruel treatment 
under these circumstances to kindle in his savage 
breast a relentless thirst for blood. When once 
aroused he falls upon every white person he chances 
to meet; treating both friend and foe alike; thus often 
exhibiting one of the most inhuman of all traits — base 
ingratitude. Worse, if possible, than that other igno- 
ble constituent of the Indian character — treachery. 
The various massacres that occurred in Southern 
Oregon alone, at the outbreak of the present dis- 
turbance, where so many victims fell by the hands of 
the savage fiends, are almost enough to stifle the 
sympathy of philanthropists for the Indian race. Yet, 
as these poor heathens are not educated to the high 
sense of right and wrong possessed by our more en- 
lightened people, we ought to make some allowance 
for their barbarous acts. 

Fort Orford, May 2d, 1856. 
Day before yesterday Mr. Olney, the Indian agent, 
brought to garrison an old squaw, who w?s found 



ARMY LIFE. 3 1 9 

comine throueli Port Orford. She seemed to be in 
almost a dying condition from disease, fatigue^ fear 
and hunger. A Httle brandy and a slice of bread were 
given her; of the latter she ate a few mouthfuls. 
Being sufficiently refreshed she informed the interpre- 
ter that she belonged to the Tootooteeneys, and had 
been sent by the Rogue River Indians to request the 
Port Orford band to tell the whites that they were 
tired of fighting, and desired peace; that the upper 
Rogue River Indians, and Enas, who had inveigled 
them into making war on the whites, had basely de- 
serted them — that all their ranches and provisions 
were destroyed — many of their number killed and 
wounded, that they were nearly starving, and were 
desirous of peace, and were willing to come in and 
submit to anything the troops desired. Being put 
under charge of the guard, in comfortable quarters, 
for the night, she was, on the following morning, 
permitted to join the Indians on the reserve — for 
whether her story be true or false, the Colonel com- 
mandingf the district was satisfied that all the news she 
could communicate to the tribes now on the military 
reserve would only convince them that they had 
better remain peaceable. Moreover she was exceed- 
ingly ill, and we were unwilling to have her die in the 
guard house; as the Indians might suppose she had 
met with foul play. 

The steamer "Columbia" touched here on her 
downward trip yesterday. General Wool, Colonel 
Nauman, Major Fitzgerald, and Lieutenant Arnold — 
all of the army — were passengers. The General was 
in fine spirits; being pleased, I suppose, with the 



220 JOURNAL OF 

recent reports of Colonel Buchanan, and Colonel 
Casey, in relation to the Indians in their respective 
districts. Colonel C, who commands Puget Sound 
district, reports that many of the Indians in that 
district are begging for peace, and that he has suc- 
ceeded in driving the remainder beyond the mount- 
ains, far away from the settlements; and what is, 
perhaps, as equally pleasing to the old hero, he has 
learned that his management of the war on this coast 
has been approved by the War Department. This is 
particularly grateful to him as he has been most bit- 
terly censured by the Oregon press for his treatment 
of the volunteers, whom he refused to recognize unless 
they would properly enlist in the service of the United 
States. The Legislature of Oregon, together with 
Governor Curry, of the same Territory, and Gover- 
nor Stevens, of Washington Territory, have all, 
within the past three months, petitioned the depart- 
ment for his recall — asserting that the General has 
utterly failed to render proper protection to the two 
Territories. I shall not discuss the matter further 
than to say, that, as in most matters of this kind, 
there seems to be right and wrong on both sides. 
The Governors may have made a mistake in not 
permitting the volunteers to be enlisted in the service 
of the United States; and General Wool ought to 
have sent an escort to protect Governor Stevens on 
his return from the Blackfoot country last fall, where 
he had been to form a treaty with them — and from 
whence he had to return through the enemy's coun- 
try — and had to depend upon the friendly Nez Perces 
for an escort. 



ARMY LIFE. 32 I 

May 6th, ig^d. — Yesterday Colonel Buchanan, Cap- 
tain Augur, Lieutenant Chandler, with company G, 
Fourth Infantry, left for the mouth of Rogue River. 
They took with them four friendly Indians — Tagnesia, 
the chief of the Elk River Indians; two squaws of 
the same tribe, and a little Indian boy belonging to 
the Indian agent; and an Indian boy prisoner, who 
was captured near Crescent City a few weeks ago, 
and sent to this post for confinement. He belongs 
to the Pistol River Indians, who fought the volun- 
teers on the twentieth of March. His story is con- 
firmatory of the squaw's statement that the coast In- 
dians are anxious to make peace. 

Company G simply came up here as an escort to a 
pack train, which has gone down with a good supply 
of shoes and provisions for the troops at the mouth of 
the river. When it arrives, and the one from Cres- 
cent City, which has perhaps reached there before this, 
the Colonel will be fully prepared for an effective cam- 
paign. 

If the Indians of the coast want peace, however, and 
will abide by his terms, he will probably have them 
all brought in and disarmed, preparatory to being 
moved on the Indian Reserve between this and the 
Columbia River, selected last year by General Palmer. 
At all events, he has taken the friendly Indians with 
him to send to the enemy and ascertain their wishes. 
One of the Indians is a very old squaw, whom the 
Chief intends to send to the hostile ranks first to as- 
certain the danger, and if there are none of the upper 
Indians among them, and no personal risk to be ap- 
prehended, he will then go himself. This is the uni- 



32 2 JOURNAL OF 

versal custom of the Indians of this coast. Their old- 
est squaws have to go on all such dangerous errands. 

May ytkf 1^36. — An express arrived from Rogue 
River yesterday, bringing among other things, the 
news of a little brush between Captain Ord's company 
(B, Third Artillery), and the Indians at Chetco River, 
forty miles below the mouth of Rogue River, on the 
twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth ultimo. The Indians 
were lying in wait for the pack train, which was being 
escorted to the mouth of Rog^ue River from Crescent 
City by Company F, Fourth Infantry. It was feared 
that the enemy might give trouble about that point, 
hence Col. B. wisely dispatched Captain O. from the 
mouth of Rogue River, to reinforce Captain Floyd 
Jones, ere he reached the dangerous portion of the 
route. 

The Indians were in ambush on the north side of 
Chetco, prepared to attack the train as it attempted to 
cross. They were disconcerted by Ord's coming up 
on the same side, and fled. Ord gave a running fight 
and killed six Indians, and took a women and child 
prisoners. The second chief of the Chetcoes was 
among the slain, Ord had Seargent Smith killed and 
one man wounded. From the squaw prisoner, Ord 
learned that the Indians engaged were the Chetcoes, 
and about twenty-five from Rogue River. That they 
had been out in Smith's valley burning houses, whence 
they returned to Pistol River to ambuscade the train. 

The expressman also learned that the Chief of the 
Joshuas had come down there a few days previously, 
persuading the Chetcoes to make peace with the 



1 



ARMY LIFE. 323 



whites. Thus everything goes to show that many of 
the Rogue River Indians desire peace; but I fear that 
the few citizens and volunteers we have at Port Orford, 
are disposed to throw obstacles in the way, for they 
assert their determination to shoot any and every In- 
dian who has been known to kill a white man, either 
before or since the war. In accordance with these 
views, they yesterday tried and condemned by lynch 
law, an Indian belonging to the Coquille band, who 
have just returned from the mountains to the Govern- 
ment Reserve, after being stampeded a few weeks 
since, and having a number of their "bucks " killed by 
some white persons. This Indian is supposed to be 
one of a party of Indians who massacred two white 
men about two and a half years ago. 

The lynch court sentenced him to be hung to-day at 
one p. M. It is said the Indian confesses being one of 
the party who committed the murder, but states that 
the whites have already killed four Indians for this 
murder, two of whom were innocent. This, according 
to the Indian law, should satisfy the whites; but, of 
course, it is no palliation by our laws, and if the Indian 
be guilty, he ought to be properly tried and punished, 
but not lynched. 



12 4 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

REPORTS FROM THE SURROUNDING INDIAN COUNTRY. 

Colonel Buchanan's command march up on each side of Rogue River with the 
Olive Branch in one hand, and the Sword in the other — Colonel Cornelius' 
Volunteers lose their horses— General Lamerick comes across the enemy at 
the Big Meadows — Views as to the kind of Troops necessary for Indian 
Service — More Peace Talk — Old George's Band — Superintendent of Indians 
goes to the Front — Colonel Wright's Talk with Kimiakin unsatisfactory — 
San Francisco Vigilance Committee — Old John's Treachery, and a bloody 
battle — Stampede at Port Orford — Wreck of a \'essel — Was Morrison a Knave 
or a Fool ? — More concerning the Vigilance Committee of San Francisco — A 
Skirmish with the Indians four miles above the mouth of the Illinois — A Fight 
with the Enemy five miles below the junction of the Illinois and Rogue 
Rivers — The Troops victorious. 

MAY 9TH, 1856. — The sentence upon the Indian 
prisoner above spoken of, was carried into 
effect. He was then buried near the [foot of his 
gallows, on Battle Rock. The expressman, Mr. 
Sweat, arrived from the mouth of Rogue River yes- 
terday afternoon. He brings the information that 
the troops, " three hundred and forty-three in all, 
moved up Rogue River yesterday morning, with the 
olive branch in one hand, and the sword in the other. 
The companies of Captain Ord, Brevet-Major Rey- 
nolds, and Captain Floyd Jones, (B, Third Artillery; 
H, Third Artillery; F, Fourth Infantry) have started on 
the south side of the river; and those of Captain Smith's 
and Captain Augur's, (C, First Dragoons; G, Fourth 
Infantry) on the north side. Colonel Buchanan and 



AJ^AIV LIFE. 325 

Dr. Milhau accompany the command on the south, 
and Dr. C. H. Crane that on the north side. Of 
course the captains are with their own companies. 

May lyth, 1336. — By the steamer just from Port- 
land, we learn that the First Regiment of mounted 
volunteers, under Colonel Cornelius, have had their 
horses stolen by the Indians — three hundred and 
ninety in all. It seems that, in accordance with the 
instructions of Governor Curry, the larger portion of 
the reeiment had come in to within a few miles of the 
Dalles for the purpose of being disbanded. On the 
twenty-eighth of April they had their animals grazing 
about three fourths of a mile from camp under the 
charge of a small guard, when about fifty Yakimas, 
under old Kimiakin, came charging down the hill, 
whooping and swinging their blankets in the air — 
thus stampeding them all. The Indians were pur- 
sued, but without being overtaken. The number of 
animals lost was three hundred and fifty, which, added 
to the forty stolen from Fort Henrietta, on the 
twentieth of April, where the remainder of the regi- 
ment was stationed, makes the aggregate above men- 
tioned. The Indians of that section were already 
well mounted, but now they are doubly so — having 
taken some of the finest horses in Oregon. 

About the twenty-eighth of last month some six 
hundred v^olunteers, under General Lamerick, after 
seeking the upper Rogue River Indians for several 
weeks, came upon them at the Big Meadows; and, 
notwithstanding the latter numbered only about one 
hundred warriors, and were incumbered with their fami- 



^2 6 JOURNAL OF 

lies and stock, they succeeded in making their escape 
after a sHght skirmish. It is true that the enemy 
were on the opposite side of Rogue River; which, 
however, was fordable. From all accounts the vol- 
unteers behaved bravely, and seemed eager for a fight; 
but disaereed amono- themselves as to the best mode 
of making an attack. The General being powerless, 
according to his statement to a friend of mine, to 
enforce a concerted movement. Yet Messrs. Drew 
and Hillman, who have just come through from Jack- 
sonville, via Crescent City, state that they saw about 
three hundred of the volunteers at Fort Vannois, 
where they had come to be disbanded, and that they 
were displeased with their commander for not allow- 
ing them to cross the river, so as to get at the 
enemy. 

On the other hand, the Oregon press is filled with 
rumors of the great battle between the volunteers and 
Indians at the Meadows, with a loss of thirty or forty 
of the latter; which of the statements is correct, it is 
impossible to determine.. There is a slight disposition 
in the Oregon newspapers to unduly extol the volun- 
teers, and withhold from the regulars a proper share 
of praise. 

This condition of things is the natural effect of the 
unfortunate dissensions between the Governors of 
Oregon and Washington Territories, on the one hand, 
and General John E. Wool, of the Army, on the other, 
aided also by the fact that there have been no news- 
paper correspondents among the United States troops 
to laud their actions. Although an officer of the army, 
I do not think myself prejudiced in asserting, that not- 



ARMY LII'E. 327 

withstanding volunteers, composed of our hardy and 
brave frontiersmen, who are generally good marksmen, 
make far more effective troops for Indian fighting when 
well disciplined and under good officers, than regular 
soldiers, recently enlisted, and under officers fresh 
from the West Point Military Academy; yet the want 
of discipline in volunteer soldiers, frequently paralyzes 
their usefulness. 

Taking the material as we generally find it at the 
period of sudden Indian outbreaks, the most valuable 
troops are regulars (not raw recruits), who have been 
taught to shoot well with rifle, aided by an equal 
number of sharp-shooters enlisted from the whites on 
the frontier, or even from friendly Indians, who are 
willing to obey orders, all under the command of 
officers experienced in Indian warfare. 

Aside from the inculcation of proper discipline, the 
art of war, as taught at the National Military School 
at West Point, though well suited to civilized warfare, 
is badly adapted for carrying on a war with a savage 
foe, especially such an enemy as the upper Rogue 
River Indian, whose home is in the forest and mount- 
ain strongholds; who subsists on the wild fruits and 
animals which he finds wherever he may roam; who 
fights only when the advantage of position or numbers 
is in his favor, and vanishes when the fates are against 
him; who battles mostly under cover of rocks and 
trees, and with a deadliness of aim only to be acquired 
by constant practice in hunting and fighting. 

The majority of regulars engaged in this war, have 
had more or less experience in Indian warfare, and 
have been drilled at target practice, until they have 
become average marksmen. 



3 



2 8 JOURNAL OF 



With the exception of the company of dragoons, 
who have been dismounted and allowed to retain 
their musketoons, the men are all armed with a mus- 
ket loaded with ball and buckshot. The first named 
weapon is illy suited for this kind of duty, and will 
prove a failure if too much relied upon. The officers 
carry a small breech- loading rifle, with an elevating 
back-sight — an admirable weapon in the hands of a 
good marksman. 

Whilst at the main camp at the mouth of Rogue 
River, the officers sometimes amused themselves 
with shooting at gulls, seals and ducks. Owing to 
my reputation of being a pretty good shot, I was ban- 
tered one day to try my luck at a duck swimming in 
the river two hundred yards from headquarters' tent, 
where the colonel and his staff, including myself, were 
standing. Regulating the elevating-sight of my rifle, 
for the supposed distanee, I surprised everybody by 
killing the duck at an off-hand shot. Perhaps I could 
not have done so well again in a hundred trials, yet 
my reputation of being a crack shot was at once es- 
tablished. Many a man's renown in more important 
matters comes upon him as suddenly and unexpectedly 
as mine on this occasion. 

May 20th, 2336. — The schooner "Iowa," being an- 
chored in the bay, broke her cable last night, and 
was driven ashore by the gale ; she is likely to prove 
a total wreck. Yesterday afternoon a pack train of 
nearly two hundred animals, escorted by Company B, 
Third Artillery, arrived from Colonel Buchanan's com- 
mand. Captain Ord states that the troops are en- 



ARMY LIFE. 329 

camped at Oak Flats, on the east side of the IlHnois, 
and five miles south of Rogue River. That the 
Colonel is having a talk with the coast Indians, and 
several of the upper Rogue River bands, who seem 
to be desirous of peace. He has demanded of them 
an unconditional surrender, except that they shall be 
protected if they are willing to come in and cease 
fighting. He does not beg them, however, to come 
to terms — on the contrary tells them if they want 
peace, and will submit to his terms, it is all right — • 
if otherwise, to say so at once, and he is prepared 
to whip them into measures. 

The coast Indians have already signified their as- 
sent. The upper Rogue River Indians had not 
arrived when the train left, but Captain Ord met Old 
George's band, and a part of Limpy's, five miles this 
side of camp. They had posted themselves on both 
sides of the Rogue River at the mouth of the Illinois, 
and were waiting to hear from Captain Smith, whom 
they knew, before going to the Colonel's camp. 
They were decidedly shy at first, and kept a position 
of readiness for battle in case the whites pitched into 
them. The chief, however, signified by a white flag 
that he did not wish to fight. The troops, after 
crossing the river, and having a short talk with them, 
proceeded on to this place. Old George's band is rep- 
resented as a fine looking body of men, well armed 
and clothed. Every man had on a head-dress with a 
feather in the top. In fact they presented quite a 
military appearance.* The number present was forty 
or fifty. Most of the coast Indians are already in the 
vicinity of the camp — they number several hundred 
warriors. 



330 JOURNAL OF 

May 2Sth, 185^- — Oliver Cantwell came in yester- 
day as express from Colonel Buchanan's command, 
which had left Camp Oak Flats and encamped on the 
north side of Rogue River, four miles from the mouth 
of the Illinois. After Captain Ord had met George 
and Limpy's bands, as spoken of above, they sent 
word to Colonel B. that they desired to have a talk 
with him, but wished to see Captain Smith first. The 
latter accordingly took his company and went down 
to meet them ; and on the following day Old George 
and Limpy marched their men to within two hundred 
yards of camp, and then taking twelve or fifteen as a 
body guard went to the Colonel and had a talk. 
They at first, together with the coast Indians, insisted 
on being permitted to remain in their present country; 
that they were willing to give up their arms, and do 
almost anything, if this request were granted them. 
The Colonel told them that this could not be allowed, 
as they had already bound themselves by treaty to go 
on to the reservation, and that he was determined 
that they should go. After three days both Old 
George and Limpy, of the upper Rogue River Indi- 
ans, and Joshua, of the coast Indians, declared that 
they would go on to the reservation. The other In- 
dians had not made up their minds on the subject 
when the expressman left. 

The Colonel is waiting at his present camp for the 
arrival of the pack train with provisions from this 
post. This left here last Friday evening; but as it 
took a different route from whal; Colonel B. antici- 
pated, it will cause him several days' delay in the 
prosecution of his plans — the first of which seems 



ARMY LIFE. 33 I 

to be to send such of the tribes as are wilHng, to the 
reservation immediately. The superintendent of In- 
dian affairs, General Joel Palmer, left with the pack 
train to join Colonel B., and will, no doubt, concur in 
all that has been done by the latter. 

May ^oth, 1S3^- — The "Columbia" arrived from Port- 
land yesterday, she did not touch on her upward trip. 
The news from above is unimportant, except that the 
regulars, about four hundred, under Colonel Wright, 
had met with some twelve hundred Indians, under old 
Kimiakin, and had a talk, which was not satisfactory, 
and that a fight was consequently expected in a few 
days. 

The most exciting news is from San Francisco. It 
appears that the editor of the Evening Bulletin, James 
King, was shot by James P, Casey, the editor of an- 
other evening paper, on the afternoon of the fourteenth 
of May, and that he died on the twentieth. The ex- 
citement was intense. A vigilance committee (the 
first for several years), was immediately formed to 
take the matter into consideration. Twenty-nine per- 
sons composed the committee proper, whose delibera- 
tions were held profoundly secret. These were sup- 
ported by some twenty-nine hundred others, who were 
sworn to carry out all the decisions of the twenty-nine. 
King was buried on the twenty-second instant. On 
the same day, and about the same hour, Casey, his 
murderer, and Cora, the man who shot General Rich- 
ardson a few months ago, were hanged by authority 
of the Vigilance Committee, after receiving a trial be- 
fore this body. 



332 JOURNAL OF 

It is stated that both of these men had the sympathy 
of such a large class of lawless men in San Francisco, 
that it would have been utterly useless to have gone 
through the mockery of a trial in the customary legal 
process. It is further asserted that there have been 
some three hundred murders committed in San Fran- 
cisco during the past few years, and only three men 
convicted and hung; also that the Vigilance Committee 
is composed of the best men in the city; that even 
the pulpit, with scarcely a single exception, were in 
favor of the people's taking the matter in their own 
hands, as it was impossible to insure justice in any 
other way. 

If there ever was a time when such measures were 
necessary, it was undoubtedly on this occasion; but 
all such proceedings are very sure to lead to evil. 
The thing may ultimately fall into the hands of vicious 
and lawless persons, who will do much harm. The 
example is a bad one. 

It is alleged that King was shot by Casey, because 
he exposed in the Bulletin, some of the rascality of 
the latter, who was formerly in the Sing Sing Prison, 
New York. 

yune jd, 18^6. — An express of two men. Walker 
and Foster, arrived this morning from the troops whom 
they left at the Big Bend of Rogue River, The ex- 
press before this, brought the news of the main camp 
beinor a few miles this side of Roofue River, near the 
mouth of the Illinois. Whilst remainingf there await- 
ing for the pack train which left Fort Orford last 
Friday week, the Colonel sent Major Reynolds a day's 



ARMY LIFE. 



333 



travel on the trail to this post, to meet the pack train, 
and with instructions about getting in some of the 
lower Indians. About the same time Captain Andrew 
Smith, of the First Dragoons, was ordered to the Big 
Bend with his and a portion of E company, in all about 
ninety men, on foot, to assist in getting in old George 
and Limpy's bands. On arriving there, old George 
sent him word that the other hostile tribes had sur- 
rounded and prevented his coming in as soon as he 
expected, and warned Smith that the hostile bands, 
headed by Old John, intended attacking his camp 
(Smith's), and would at first attempt a little strategy, 
Old John to pretend that he desired peace, and wished 
to have a talk; in the meantime, to send into Smith's 
camp a body of naked, unarmed Indians, equal in num- 
ber to the soldiers, and at the moment that the latter 
became most unsuspecting and careless, to seize upon 
their arms. This was to have been done at a given 
signal, and each Indian to grab a soldier's musket when 
the fight, or rather massacre, was to begin. Sure 
enough, on the following day, some fifty or sixty 
athletic Indians, naked and unarmed, came into camp, 
saying that Old John desired to have a talk. Smith 
ordered them to leave, and they did, but only went a 
few hundred yards and picked up their guns, which 
had been secreted, and commenced an attack. They 
were immediately joined by many others. Smith now 
found himself surrounded by from three to four hun- 
dred Indians, who kept firing into his camp from the 
morning of the twenty-eighth instant, to the afternoon 
of the twenty-ninth, when Captain Augur arrived on 
the ground with his company G, Fourth Infantry. 



334 JOURNAL OF 

Smith's men raised a shout, and the two commands 
charged the enemy, and completely routed them. The 
number lost by the latter is not known, as the dead 
were carried off the field. 

The troops had twenty-nine killed and wounded, 
nine killed on the field, and several deaths from severe 
wounds before the expressman left, which was on the 
thirty-first ultimo. All of the killed and wounded but 
five, belonged to Smith's command. Smith's position 
was on a rising piece of ground, surrounded by a rather 
open woods. He took this as the best position he 
could secure in the immediate neighborhood, after he 
had been informed of the contemplated attack. It 
does not appear that he had attempted to throw up 
any defences previous to the fight, doubtless deeming 
it inexpedient and bad policy. After getting Old 
George's warning, he dispatched a messenger to Col. 
Buchanan, who forthwith sent to the " Soldiers' Camp" 
for Reynold's company to come to headquarters, so as 
to enable him to dispatch reinforcements to Smith, if 
necess^ary. 

When the second express arrived from the latter, 
statinof that the Indians had surrounded and cut him 
off from water, etc.. Captain Augur's company', which, 
together with Jones's F, Fourth Infantry, had been en- 
gaged in cutting a trail from opposite the mouth of 
the Illinois to the Big Bend, was immediately dis- 
patched to his relief. About the same time, the 
Colonel was informed that the pack train was coming 
up on the opposite side of the river. This, instead of 
returning on the same trail it came to Fort Orford, had 
taken a much more circuitous and longer, but perhaps 



AJ?AIV LIFE. 



33. 



better one, under the circumstances, t. e. instead of 
going an almost due east course to the mouth of the 
Illinois, as the Colonel had anticipated, Captain Ord 
had crossed Rogue River forty-five miles below that 
point, and gone up its south side. He did this because 
the road was better, and because he had reasons to 
suppose that the Indians would attack his train if he 
returned on the same route that he came. How- 
ever, when the Colonel was informed what route the 
train had taken, he kept F. Company to assist in get- 
ting it across Rogue River, near the mouth of the 
Illinois. When this was accomplished, and Major 
Reynold's company (H, Third Artillery), had arrived, 
the whole force marched for the Big Bend, where it 
was when the express left on the thirty-first. 

It is pretty well ascertained, that a part of nearly all 
the hostile bands of Rogue River were engaged in 
Smith's fight, except those of George, Limpy and 
Joshua, and even some few of these, but against the 
orders of their chiefs. Had Smith not received warn- 
ing from old George, every man of his cornmand would 
have been butchered, and even as it was, they would 
all have been slain^ had not Captain Augur arrived as 
soon as he did, for they were entirely cut off from 
water, and only held out as long as they did, by dig- 
ging holes in the ground on the- night of the twenty- 
eighth (the night after the first day's attack), with 
their tin pans, and throwing up a little embankment of 
dirt. It is related that the Indians charged bravely up 
to this temporary defence; and in one instance, a party 
of them crawled up and threw into the entrenchment 
a stick, to make the men carelessly jerk up their heads, 



336 JOURNAL OF 

that they might get a better shot at them. On this 
occasion, a little Indian boy, whom the troops had 
with them as an interpreter, raised himself a little, and 
was instantly killed. It is related that the men be- 
haved gallantly; but as they were miserably armed 
with short musketoons, loaded with ball, it is believed 
that they did not do half the execution that might 
have been accomplished, had they had good rifles, or 
even the Government musket, loaded with buckshot 
and ball. The other companies were armed with the 
latter, but Smith's being a dragoon company, dis- 
mounted for the occasion, retained their musketoons. 

The more I see of Indian fighting, the more am I 
convinced that the present system of arming men with 
musketoons or muskets, for this species of warfare, is 
a great error. They should have rifles, and be taught 
to shoot well by constant practice; and the present 
custom of employing soldiers while in garrison, on 
almost continuous hard fatigue duty, without any or 
very little drilling at target shooting, should be abol- 
ished. 

During the fight with Captain Smith, a party of a 
hundred and fifty volunteers, under the command of 
Major Latshaw, came across George and Limpy's 
camps, and captured some women, children and pro- 
visions. It is asserted that but few, if any, of the war- 
riors belonging to these chiefs, were engaged against 
Smith's command, but that they were only waiting to 
surrender; still, I presume, the volunteers were not 
aware of this, and it is highly probable that the prox- 
imity of the latter aided to hasten the retreat of the 
hostile Indians. 



ARMY LIFE. 337 

yune jth, 185^- — Stampedes are now the order of 
the day in Port Orford. As the number of men in 
the place is not over a dozen since the volunteers 
left, and the troops remaining to garrison this post 
are raw recruits, and number only about sixteen be- 
sides the sick, and as this is the depot of military 
stores, and hence a very desirable point for the enemy 
to capture, the people are very excitable upon the 
subject of Indians. 

On the first instant several of the friendly Indians, 
who started out from here with the superintendent, 
General Joel Palmer, and the last pack train, returned, 
bringing us the first news of the fight between the 
troops and Indians at the Big Bend. As their sym- 
pathies are, of course, with their own race, they rep- 
resented the late events in a very unfavorable light 
for the troops; also stated that the Chetcoes were 
coming up to steal away from the military reserve 
the Indian prisoners belonging to that tribe. 

On the morning of the second a man, by the name 
of Parker went down the coast for about six miles to 
hunt some lost cattle. Shortly thereafter he came run- 
ning in, and stated that he had been pursued and fired 
upon by a party of Indians, who followed him within 
sight of the village. He left his horse behind, having 
hitched and gone off from him a short distance when he 
saw the Indians. We all took our spy-glasses and look- 
ed down the coast in the direction stated^ and beheld 
some fifteen Indians at the distance of four miles from 
this place. At first we could not tell whether they were 
marching slowly up towards the village or not. One 
thing we could see, however, that the advance party, 



238 JOURNAL OF 

on reaching what is called Rocky Point, three miles 
from here, waited for them behind to come up. It 
was now a matter of doubt whether they were hostile 
or not. If unfriendly, every one was satisfied that 
'they would be supported by much larger parties 
coming in other directions. After they came around 
Rocky Point, however, and marched carelessly along 
the beach, we felt satisfied that they were not hostile. 
They turned out to be the Indian guides whom Col- 
onel Buchanan took out with him, together with some 
of the Port Orford Indians, who had been at the 
mouth of Rogue River when the outbreak occurred; 
and who were previously unable to return. 

Night before last some of the loafers about town, 
styling themselves members of the Vigilance Com- 
mittee, represented to the commanding officer that 
two of the Indians, who arrived on the second instant, 
were believed to have been present at the massacre 
on the twenty-second of February, at the mouth of 
Rogue River, and wished permission to take and try 
them. Knowing what an excitement this would 
create among the Indians on the reservation, if white 
men were permitted to arrest every one who was 
supposed to have done anything since the breaking 
out of the troubles, and yet not having a sufficient 
guard to keep them away from the Indians, the com- 
manding officer of Fort Orford had the suspected In- 
dians placed in the guard-house, and at the same time 
informed the Indians that they should not be dis- 
turbed or tried before General Palmer came back. 
This was done to keep the mob from shooting them. 
That night the Chetco prisoners, numbering some 



ARMY LIFE. 339 

twenty, deserted the reservation. It is not known, 
yet suspected, that the other Indians on the reserva- 
tion were aware when they left, and probably assisted 
them — as they evidently sympathize heart and soul 
with their race — and are, moreover, anxious that the 
war should be prolonged in order that they may not 
be moved out of their present country. 

Last night there was another stampede in Port 
Orford; and to-day the few settlers who had gone to 
mining and farming between this and Cape Blanco, 
ten miles up the coast, came running in. They say 
that Indians have been lurkinof in the neighborhood — 
and that those on the reservation are surly and cross. 
I am not astonished at the latter, for a few vagabond 
» whites will not let their squaws alone, even under the 
present alarming state of affairs. It is a great pity 
that these fellows cannot be punished for their con- 
duct — but the laws are powerless in the matter. I 
hope the settlers will now either stay in, or, if they 
go out again, remain quietly at their occupations; for 
this stampeding at every little excitement is just what 
the Indians rejoice to witness. 

yune gth, 185^- — A storm of rain and wind from 
the southeast since day before yesterday. A schoon- 
er, the "Francisco," anchored in the bay, broke her 
fastenings night before last; and came ashore upon 
the rocks. This is the second vessel wrecked here 
within a few weeks. The captains may hereafter 
take warning, and put to sea when a southeaster 
springs up. 

On the evening of the sixth a white man, calling 



340 JOURNAL OF 

himself Morrison, was arrested in Port Orford by the 
citizens, and put in the guard-house at this post. He 
came here through the heart of the Indian country, 
and tells such contradictory and inconsistent stories, 
that it is thought by many that he has been acting 
with the hostile Indians, and may have come here 
with the view of procuring ammunition, etc., for the 
enemy. I am inclined, however, to believe that he is 
insane, and being in want of work, has ventured 
through the enemy's ranks alone, unarmed, and with- 
out provisions, believing himself perfectly safe in so 
doing. If so, he has certainly run a gauntlet that 
few would like to venture on. He is evidently a 
consummate fool or knave — it is difficult to say 
which. 

The "Columbia" arrived yesterday, bringing no 
news of importance, except from San Francisco. 
They are having an exciting time there at present; 
almost equal to the reign of terror in France. The 
Vigilance Committee is still supreme, and supported 
by a majority of the clergymen, and all the papers, 
in the city, except the Herald. Nobody has been 
hung since the last steamer, but some twenty or 
thirty have been ordered out of the city. Yankee 
Sullivan, the celebrated prize fighter, was brought 
before the Vigilance Committee for trial, and whilst 
in custody committed suicide. Governor Johnson 
has issued a proclamation calling upon all good citi- 
zens to support law and order, and ordering out the 
State militia — that is, all vounor men between the 
ages of eighteen and twenty-five. William T. Sher- 
man, formerly a lieutenant in the United States 



ARMY LIFE, 34 1 

army, but now a banker in San Francisco, is the 
Major-General of militia. When the steamer left 
the proper authorities were busily engaged in enrol- 
ling the latter; but the call of the Governor, and 
order of General Sherman, had not been very 
promptly answered. It is to be hoped that no open 
collision between the authorities of the land and 
that of the Committee will take place, but things 
present an alarming aspect at this time. 

June gthy 185^- — Captain Tichenor brought an 
express from Colonel Buchanan's headquarters yes- 
terday. He says the troops have had two more 
fights with the Indians. The first was a mere skir- 
mish, and occurred on the fourth instant, with a party 
of Indians three or four miles above the mouth of 
the Illinois on Rogue River. The latter were en- 
gaged in fishing, and had four or five killed; the 
troops none. The detachment consisted of company 
H, Third Artillery, and Captain Bledsoe's volunteer 
company, under the command of Major J. C. Rey- 
nolds, United States army. 

On the following day, in accordance with the in- 
structions from Colonel Buchanan, Bledsoe's com- 
pany moved down the south side of Rogue River, 
and Captain Augur's, company G, Fourth Infantry, the 
north side, and fell upon the Indians at a point some 
four or five miles below the mouth of the Illinois. The 
latter were again completely routed — sixteen of their 
number killed. The regulars and volunteers shared 
the fight equally, and each killed about the same 
number of Indians, with a loss of only one man, 
and three wounded. 



342 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XXV. 

PLANS AND PLOTS OF THE INDIANS. 

An Indian scheme to attack Fort Orford — Further indications of the Enemy 
growing tired of the War — More talk of Treachery and Capture of Fort 
Orford — George and Limpy's Bands surrender — Chief John has a Cry — 
Arrival of Troops and many Indians — Treachery prevented by the confine- 
ment of twelve Chiefs — Departure of a portion of the Indians for the Coast 
Reservation — Old John promises to come in — Captain Ord arrives with Old 
John's Band, and other Indians — On the Fourth of July Colonel Buchanan 
announces the close of the Rogue River War — Remaining Indians sent over- 
land to the Reservation — Colonel Wright unable to make Peace with the 
Enemy east of the Cascade Mountains — A dangerous Sea Trip in a Canoe — 
San Francisco still vinder the control of the Vigilance Committee — United 
States Dragoons and Kansas Riots. 

JUNE I2TH, 1856. — The people of Port Orford, 
and Fort Orford, have been excited for the last 
three days in consequence of the discovery of a plan 
on the part of the Indians on the military reservation 
here to make an attack on the fort and town. They 
were to be assisted by the Rogue River Indians, 
with whom, it is asserted, they hold constant com- 
munication. The attack to be made as soon as the 
weather got dry and windy — when the Indians here 
(who have no guns) were to pitch in with their 
knives and clubs; also set fire to the buildings; and 
the others to do all the shooting. Various circum- 
stances go to prove this story, though it was first di- 
vulged by a squaw to the wife (a half breed) of a 
Frenchman. These Indians have become very impu- 
dent and saiicy since the return of their chiefs from 



AHMV LIFE. 



34: 



Colonel Buchanan's camp. In fact they were sent 
back on account of their insolence there, where they 
did far more harm than good. Since returning they 
have repeatedly asserted that the Bostons could not 
subdue the Indians, and that they would not go on to 
the reservation. But as it is believed that their plans 
have been disconcerted by the last successes of the 
troops on the Rogue River Indians, and as it is bad 
policy to take harsh steps with them until it is proven 
beyond all shadow of doubt that they really intended 
to break out, the matter will be allowed to pass over; 
we remaining on the alert in the meantime. 

June i3th^ ^83^' — An express from Colonel Buchan- 
an's camp, reached here yesterday morning, with the 
news that the coast Indians are gradually coming in, 
and giving up their arms, with the view of going on 
the reservation. 

Colonel Buchanan's whole command is on the north 
side of Rogue River, at three different points, and the 
volunteers (about three hundred), under General Lam- 
erick, on the south side. The Indians seem to be 
pretty well intimidated. Just as the expressman was 
leaving. Old John, of the upper Rogue River Indians, 
sent in word that he thougrht his band would come in 
also ; but the old rascal is so treacherous, that it is ex- 
ceedingly difficult to judge of his sincerity. He may 
have another scheme in view. 

The squaw who divulged the anticipated outbreak 
here, now asserts that the Indians intend giving up 
only such guns as the whites know to be in their pos- 
session, and a few old ones besides, and after they 



344 JOURNAL OF 

have convinced the troops of their sincerity, and got 
them off their guard, they are to seize the soldiers' 
guns, and commence a general onslaught. She says 
this is to be done on their arrival at this post, when 
the Indians now on the military reservation are to 
assist them. She also told the Indian Agent this 
morning, that spies were in the Indian camp night be- 
fore last again, and that they brought several guns 
with them. In consequence of this report, the agent 
sent for the chiefs this morning, and whilst talking 
with them, got the commanding officer of this post to 
send out three or four men to examine the Indian 
ranches for arms, etc. In the meantime, he asked the 
chiefs if they had any; they said no. The guard took 
with them the squaw above spoken of, to point out 
where she thought the arms were secreted; but the 
Indians swarmed around her so thickly, that she 
afforded but little assistance. The guard, however, 
found two guns, which are thought to belong to the 
Coquille Indians, now on the reservation. As the 
chiefs had pretended to give up all their arms, and 
were found to have acted in bad faith, they were now 
told that it was known that they had other guns which 
must be brought in immediately. They finally ac- 
knowledged having a few more, which they said should 
be sent in this afternoon. 

June 141/1, 18^6. — The Indians sent in the guns yes- 
terday, as promised. This morning, the Superintend- 
ent of Indian Affairs, General Palmer, arrived from the 
"field." He states that Colonel Buchanan's com- 
mand is on its way with two hundred and seventy- one 



ARAIY LIFE. 345 

upper Rogue River Indians, George and Limpy's 
bands, and four hundred and thirty-one Coast Indians. 
It is very doubtful whether Old John will come in. 
Personally, he is for war; but since a young Indian, 
who has been with Old Sam's band on the Indian 
Reservation, for a short time, was sent by the Colonel 
to talk with John's band, many of the latter seem 
anxious to quit fighting, and come in also. On Old 
John's hearing this, he burst out crying, and said if 
all his people left him, he might be compelled to come 
in also. 

yujze 13th, iS5^' — Colonel Buchanan, Captain Smith, 
Captain Augur, Doctor Milhau, Lieutenant Chandler, 
Lieutenant Ihrie and Company C, First Dragoons, 
Companies E and G, Fourth Infantry, arrived this 
afternoon, with over seven hundred Indians. The lat- 
ter, together with the four hundred now on the Mili- 
tary Reservation here, make eleven hundred, all of 
whom are to be moved forward to the Indian Reserva- 
tion, some one hundred and twenty-five miles further 
up the coast, in a few days, or as soon as the Colonel 
can hear from the command at the mouth of Rogue 
River, as to whether Old John's people and the Chet- 
coes and Pistol River Indians are coming in. They are 
about the only ones now hostile on Rogue River, and 
number perhaps five or six hundred men, women and 
children. A portion of Company E, Fourth Infantry, 
under Lieutenant Sweitzer, having gone down Rogue 
River to its mouth, in canoes wnth the wounded, were 
at that point yesterday when heard from. Captain 
Ord and Major Reynold's companies were dispatched 



346 JOURNAL OF 

there this morning, from the Colonel's camp of last 
night, to reinforce the guard of the wounded, and bring 
in all the Indians who were willing to go on the reser- 
vation. 

In consequence of threats by the citizens of Port 
Orford to shoot some of the Indians now under 
charge of the troops, Colonel Buchanan has issued 
orders to shoot any man who attempts to kill an 
Indian. 

June 20th, 183^- — We imagined that after the main 
body of troops arrived, stampedes would die away at 
this place, but another occurred last night. Yester- 
day afternoon Colonel Buchanan and General Palmer 
were informed by several Indians — Old George 
among the number, whose word is believed since 
the information he gave Captain S. turned out to be 
true — that the Indians brought in here had it in con- 
templation to rise night before last, and attempt to 
kill the troops, and take the town and fort; but con- 
cluded to postpone it till last night, when the attack 
was to have commenced. We could not fully credit 
this report, but under the circumstances General 
Palmer deemed it prudent to cause the chiefs (some 
eight or ten) of the different bands to be arrested and 
placed in confinement for the night. Whatever their 
intentions may have been this put a stop to them. 

Last night about two o'clock the steamer "Colum- 
bia" arrived on her upward trip, and lay here until 
eleven this morning. She took on board about six 
hundred Indians from the military reservation of this 
post, bound for Portland; thence by land to the In- 



AjRMV life. 347 

dian reservation. They were escorted by G com- 
pany, Fourth Infantry, under the command of Captain 
Augur. The superintendent of Indian affairs, Gen- 
eral Palmer also accompanied them. Most of these 
Indians belonged to the hostile bands. Those re- 
maining here, and such as may yet be brought in, 
will, perhaps, be sent up in two or more detachments 
by land. Three of Old John's sons came in yester- 
day, and stated that their father's band is at the mouth 
of the Illinois, and that he is willing to come in. One 
of them was dispatched to him to-day with the re- 
quest that he should come to a designated point some 
twelve miles from here, and surrender to Captain Ord, 
who is ordered to proceed from the mouth of Rogue 
River with his and Major Reynold's companies to 
that place. By the steamer we learned that the Vigi- 
lance Committee of San Francisco are still supreme — 
numbering some fifteen thousand men. The law and 
order party have been unable to offer any resistance. 
Several new arrests have been made since the last 
steamer, and many persons ordered to quit the city. 

yune 2Sth, 1S5^' — Captain Ord, with his and Major 
Reynold's companies, arrived here on the twenty- 
third, and left again with the same command on the 
following day for the "field." His orders were to 
proceed to a point on the Big Bend trail, some twelve 
miles from here, and await the arrival of Old John, 
who is expected to surrender to him. 

Yesterday an express came in from the Captain 
with the information that Old John, with his whole 
band, would probably reach his camp in three days 



348 JOURNAL OF 

from day before yesterday. When the latter and the 
Chetcoes shall have come in, the Rogue River war 
may be considered closed. 

"July 2d, 185^- — This morning Captain Ord's com- 
mand arrived, bringing in the famous Old John and 
his band — the terror of Southern Oregon. Ord went 
some twelve miles from here, and sent for Old John to 
come in — the latter reached his camp on the twenty- 
ninth ultimo, and gave up twenty-five guns — all good 
and in excellent order. It is supposed that he has 
retained a good many pistols — if so, these also will 
probably be taken away from him. He brings with 
him thirty-five men, capable of bearing arms, ninety 
women, and ninety children. He is about fifty-five 
years old — not at all prepossessing in appearance — 
has a resolute, discontented, and unhappy appearance. 
The disparity between the number of women and 
men, is partially owing to the fact that more of the 
latter have been killed in battle, but in a measure also 
to the habit of the men of this band marrying squaws 
belonging to other tribes. Being the most warlike 
tribe in the country they enjoy this privilege more 
than any other band. 

yuly ^ihy iS5^' — Yesterday the grand anniversary 
of our National Independence was celebrated by a 
Federal salute of thirteen guns at dawn of day, and 
thirty- one at noon, and at nine r. m. by five rockets, 
which were sent up from the highest point of the 
heads, to the great admiration and astonishment of 
the Indians, most of whom had never seen the like 



AJ?Afy LIFE. 349 

before. In Port Orford thirty-one guns were fired at 
noon, and thirteen at sundown. The second gun at 
noon went off prematurely, burning the man who was 
ramming the charge, very severely — the ramrod was 
shot between his hands into the ocean. The accident 
was owing to his not sponging the piece before load- 
ing it. Several fights also occurred in the village. 
After our national salute all the officers assembled at 
the Colonel's quarters and partook of refreshments. 
We were then informed by Colonel B. that he had 
the pleasure of announcing the Indian war on Rogue 
River closed. 

^u/y ^M, 183^' — The steamer ''Columbia" arrived 
here last evening, and left to-day at one p. m. for 
Portland, taking on board at this place five hundred 
and ninety-two Indians, (excluding infants) who are 
being escorted by Captain Delancy Floyd Jones' 
company F, Fourth Infantry, to the coast reservation. 
Day after to-morrow the remainder of the Indians, 
including Old John's band, and a portion of the 
Chetcoes, will also start for the same destination. 
They are to go by land, and will be accompanied by 
Major Reynold's company, H, Third Artillery, and 
a detachment of company E, Fourth Infantry. All 
the Indians of Southern Oregon, with the exception 
of a few stragglers, have surrendered. They number 
eighteen hundred persons, besides the small children. 

yiily nth, 185^' — Old John's band got off on the 
tenth instant, escorted by Major Reynold's company^ 
and a detachment of company E, Fourth Infantry. 



350 JOURNAL OF 

The officers were Major Reynolds, Doctor Milhau, 
Lieutenant Chandler and Lieutenant Drysdale. The 
troops took with them over two hundred splendid 
mules; one hundred and sixty of which were used as 
pack animals. They had provisions for themselves 
(ninety men) and the Indians (one hundred and 
twenty-five men, women and children, infants ex- 
cluded,) for ninety days. Old John's party was 
larger than this; but some of them went up on the 
steamer. Most of the Chetcoes were sent by sea; 
the remainder of the latter are included in the above 
one hundred and twenty-five. 

I rode out in the afternoon to Major Reynolds' 
first day's camp, and partook of a parting dinner 
with him. On the same day company C, First 
Dragoons, commanded by Captain A. J. Smith, 
started for the post to be established at the upper 
end of the reservation. As he was to go via Fort 
Lane, he went down the coast instead of up. He 
had with him only forty-five men — the officers are 
himself. Dr. C. H. Crane and Lieutenant Nelson B. 
Sweitzer. Companies C, and E, took a few of their 
convalescent wounded with them; the remainder, ex- 
cept two who have died since their arrival here, re- 
main in the general hospital at this post, of which I 
am still in charge. When Colonel Buchanan, Captain 
Ord, and Lieutenant Ihrie, with company B, Third 
Artillery, leave here to-morrow, Lieutenant R. Mc- 
F'eeley and myself will be the only officers remaining 
at the post; and besides the sick, hospital steward, 
hospital attendants, and some three others, there will 
be no troops. 



ARMY LIFE. 35 I 

July, i$th, 185^' — The steamer "Columbia" touched 
this morning on her downward trip, taking on board 
Colonel Buchanan, Captain Ord and Lieutenant Ihrie, 
and Company B, Third Artillery. 

By the previous steamer, we learned that Colonel 
Wright was still with his forces on the Natchez River, 
holding a council with the hostile Indians, who seemed 
disposed to make peace. This steamer brings the 
news that the Indians have all fled, and that the troops 
have thus far been unable to make peace or get a fight 
out of them. The Colonel has gone in pursuit. 

yuly 14th, 13^6. — judge Deady arrived here day be- 
fore yesterday, to hold court at Port Orford; accom- 
panying him was Dr. Evans, United States Geologist 
for Oregon. I had the pleasure of forming the ac- 
quaintance of the latter gentleman on my trip from 
New York to San Francisco, and was delighted to re- 
new the same at this lonesome place, Port Orford. 

The Doctor being anxious to make a geological 
examination of this vicinity, started for the mouth of 
Brush Creek yesterday morning, in a canoe, accom- 
panied by Mr. R. W. Dunbar and myself. Our course 
lay across the bay of Orford, distance by water four or 
five miles. The ocean being calm on starting, we got 
along delightfully for a while; then the wind freshened 
from the south, blowing thus against us, our progress 
was extremely slow, especially as none of us knew 
much about managing a canoe. Dr. Evans now be- 
came seasick, and was so prostrated as to be totally 
unable to render any assistance. Mr. Dunbar and my- 
self labored hard to reach our destination before the 



352 JOURNAL OF 

wind should become too strong; but on nearing the 
goal, we found the breakers too high to land. There 
was then no alternative but to turn about for Fort Or- 
ford again. The sea had become quite rough, particu- 
larly so near the shore. It was now my turn to be 
seasick, but though ill and exhausted, I felt in duty 
bound to assist Mr. Dunbar in navigating our frail 
bark. Dr. E. was entirely too much prostrated to do 
anything. We rigged a sail out of Mr. D.'s coat, and 
availed ourselves of the wind, which lasted till we had 
gone about a mile. As the wind was evidently about 
to change to the northwest, we paddled away man- 
fully, and arrived at Fort Orford just in time to escape 
a stronof head wind. Besides the eeolosfical examina- 
tion, we had it in contemplation to fish for trout in 
Brush Creek. The elements blasted all our bright 
prospects. 

July 26th, 18^6. — From the nineteenth to the twen- 
ty-second, there was a strong wind from southeast, 
and rain at intervals, something very unusual at this 
season. The atmosphere is at present clear, with a 
northwest trade wind; thermometer 57 deg. at 7 a. m. 
and 65 deg. at 2 p. m. This is the ordinary July and 
August weather of this place. The only fruits that 
have yet ripened in this vicinity during the present 
season, are strawberries, salmon berries, black, thimble 
and salalle berries, first two about a month ago; the 
others are just in their maturity. 

The steamer "Columbia" arrived on the morning of 
the twenty-third, bringing New York papers of the 
twentieth June, and San Francisco of the twenty-first 



AJ^MV LIFE. 



353 



July, The Vigilance Committee is still supreme in the 
latter place. They have confined their action mainly 
to driving from the city election bullies, and others 
known to have been engaged in ballot-box stuffing 
and false voting. The most remarkable arrest by them 
so far, is Judge Terry, Chief Justice of the State of 
California. He is alleored to have stabbed a Vigrilance 
Committee sheriff by the name of Hopkins, about the 
third of July. It seems that the latter had gone into the 
office of Dr. Ash, the Navy Agent, to arrest Reuben 
Maloney, for some purpose. The Doctor ordered him 
out; Judge Terry being present, had also something to 
say to him. Hopkins then sent to the Vigilance Com- 
mittee for aid. In the meantime, the Judge and Mal- 
oney started for the rooms of the law and order party; 
but Hopkins, assisted by his friends, overtook him and 
seized hold of his gun; a scuffle ensued, when he was 
stabbed by Terry. The latter was then arrested and 
placed in confinement, and has since been tried by the 
committee, but the sentence is not yet divulged. It is 
supposed that if Hopkins had died, and he has been very 
near it, from the wound assuming an erysipelatous 
character, that the Judge would have been hung. 

The Governor is powerless, he having called on the 
militia and all others to enroll themselves, and assist 
in putting down the committee, but has so far utterly 
failed. A lot of government arms sent down by his 
order, was seized by authority of the latter. 

The last great move of the committee supporters^ 
was to call a mass meeting, which convening, recom- 
mended among other things, that as the following 
officers were supposed to have been elected by fraudu- 



23 



354 JOURNAL OF 

lent votes, they should be requested by a committee 
of the mass meeting, to resign, viz: Judge Freelon, 
Mayor Van Ness, Sheriff Scannell, District Attorney 
Byrne, County Clerk Hays, Recorder Kohler, Treas- 
urer Woods, Assessor Stillman, Surveyor Gardner, 
Coroner Kent, Superintendent Pelton, and Justices 
Ryan, Chamberlain and Castree. This recommenda- 
tion, among others, was adopted; but up to the de- 
parture of the "Columbia," the above government 
officials still held on, refusing to resign. 

This committee seems to be supported by a majority 
of the best men in San Francisco, and it was undoubt- 
edly originated with the best motives; but like all other 
opposition to the regular course of law, even though 
the latter may not for the time being be justly exe- 
cuted, will probably have an evil tendency, and might 
terminate in civil war. 

It is a heart-rending fact that the latter is already 
existing in our country, but at a very different place, 
and impelled by other motives; I mean in Kansas Ter- 
ritory. There have already been several skirmishes be- 
tween free-soilers and pro-slavery partisans, and the 
free soil town of Kansas has been burnt to the ground. 
It is difficult to get at the facts in the case, but it ap- 
pears that the territorial sheriff, Jones, went to Kan- 
sas with a strong posse, to make some arrests. The 
citizens resisted, a fight ensued, and the free-soilers 
were compelled to leave the place, which was then 
burnt to the ground. The territorial officers appear to 
be supported by the pro-slavery party. 

Colonel Summer, with a regiment of United States 
dragoons, is, by special orders from the President, en- 



ARMY LIFE. 355 

deavoring to quell the riots, and had up to last dates, 
disarmed many of the rioters, and prevented them 
from assembling in any very large bodies. The mat- 
ter is becoming so serious, however, that it has even 
been debated in the Senate, whether or not the Presi- 
dent should be recommended to send General Scott 
to Kansas, to quiet matters. 



3:; 6 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

TO FORT YAMHILL VIA FORT VANCOUVER, CASCADES, ETC. 

Packers robbed and killed by Indian Stragglers — Five bad Indians shot by a 
Party of Whites — Colonel Shaw routs the Enemy near Grand Ronde — Skir- 
mish of Colonel Layton — My trip from Fort Orford to Fort Yamhill — Fort 
Vancouver — Hudson Bay Company — Ben. Wright — The Cascades — The Wil- 
lamette Falls — Steamboat'" Hoosier " — Yamhill Valley — Fort Yamhill. 

Fort Orford, August 12th, 1856. 

Sometime about the first ultimo, a pack train, ac- 
companied by some five or six packers, left here for 
Crescent City. A few days thereafter, a portion of 
the party arrived at the latter place with the news that 
they had been attacked whilst asleep at night in camp, 
near the Chetcoe River, and two of their number 
killed, and some $1,500 taken. They represented it 
to have been done by Indians, there still being a few 
of the latter remaining in the mountains in that vicin- 
ity, who were left behind when the other hostile ones 
were taken to the reservation. 

A company was raised in Crescent City, and started 
for the place where the murder was committed. On 
reaching there, they found all the mules, but no apan-a- 
hoes. It was supposed that the Indians cut these up 
and carried them off. 

On the seventh instant, whilst a few miners were 
"prospecting" (examining the country for gold), near 
the mouth of Rogue River, some twenty-five miles 
above where tl^e murder was committed, an Indian 



A/?A/V LIFE. 



157 



came into their camp, and said that there were some 
very bad Indians in that vicinity, who intended kilHng 
a man by the name of Smith, living a short distance 
below there. Their plan was to send into Smith's 
camp two Indians pretending friendship, who were to 
fall upon and murder him. He expressed a desire to 
go with them, and point out a place for waylaying the 
Indians that were coming to Smith's, and said that 
afterwards he would show them where to find the 
others; but that they must not kill his Tilicums (rela- 
tives), among the latter. 

The two Indians were accordingly watched for, two 
miles north of Pistol River, and fired upon, but only 
one was killed, the other made his escape. This was 
on Thursda)', the seventh instant. On the following 
day, a party of eight white men started out at the sug- 
gestion of the Indian, who accompanied them, to way- 
lay the other Indians, who were expected to come 
and look after the man who had been shot. They 
proceeded a short distance below the point where the 
latter had been killed, when the Indian guide who had 
gone in advance, came running back with the informa- 
tion that several Indians were a little in advance of 
them. At his suggestion, they took a good position 
behind a ridge, whilst he went off a few yards and 
showed himself to the Indians, who came towards the 
guide, and on reaching the place where he was stand- 
ing, were fired upon, five being killed and the sixth 
wounded, who escaped. A little further on they saw 
three more, and succeeded in shooting them also; thus 
killinor eio^ht and woundine two. 

The poor guide was accidentally severely wounded 



358 JOURNAL OF 

by one of the white men in the encounter; when an- 
other, thinking, perhaps, it was better to put him out 
of misery, killed him. 

August i^th, 1S5^- — The news by the "Columbia" 
this morning from above is very interesting. Colonel 
Wright, United States army, is still endeavoring to 
make peace with the Yakimas, and other hostile In- 
dians in that vicinit)\ In the meantime some volun- 
teers, under Colonel Shaw, have had an engagement 
with a body of Indians at Grand Ronde Prairie, on a 
river of the same name. The Colonel had under him 
at the time one hundred and eighty mounted men; 
and, according to the papers, succeeded in routing the 
enemy. The number killed is not known. Two of 
his men were killed and three wounded. The skir- 
mish occurred on the seventeenth ultimo. Two or 
three days previous. Major Layton, with sixty or sev- 
enty volunteers, also had a little brush with the In- 
dians in that vicinity — and, according to his official 
report, there were none of the enemy killed, though 
he thought his detachment shot several. His loss 
was one or two killed, and about the same number 
wounded. 

The Cascades, Oregox Territory, August 25th, 1S56. 

Left Fort Orford August twenty-first, and arrived 
at Fort Vancouver, W. T,, on the twenty-third. The 
Columbia River bar not being very rough. Captain 
William Dall ran his vessel in without waiting for the 
pilot — the latter thus losing a hundred dollars by not 
being ready to perform the duty. The sky being 



ARMY LIFE. 



359 



clear we enjoyed, on our trip up the Columbia, a fine 
view of Mount St. Helena, Mount Ranier and Mount 
Hood, with their snow-capped peaks, the first being 
9,750, the second 12,360, and the latter 11,225 ^^t 
high. 

The river bank up to the mouth of the Willamette is 
lined with fir and cedar; above that for a short dis- 
tance, especially at Vancouver, by cottonwood, which 
is found wherever the river overflows. Between Van- 
couver and the Cascades the timber is principally fir. 

I spent the Sabbath at Fort Vancouver. Was dis- 
appointed in finding my cousin. Major Pinkny Lugen- 
beel, of the Ninth Regiment of Infantry, absent on 
duty — yet had the pleasure of meeting his family. 
Although we have been in correspondence for a long 
time, and were at one period stationed within two hun- 
dred miles of each other for three years — he at Fort 
Gibson and I at Fort Arbuckle — still we have not met 
since he was a cadet at West Point; when, being on 
leave of absence, he visited my father's home in Mary- 
land. I was then a mere child, but have still a vivid 
recollection of the gilt buttons on his uniform. 

Vancouver is one of the most delightful posts in the 
army. It possesses an excellent, healthy climate, and 
commands one of the grandest landscape views in the 
United States. It is situated on the north bank of the 
Columbia River, which is at this point about sixteen 
hundred yards wide. In a direct line it is seventy 
miles from the Pacific Ocean — though the distance by 
the Columbia is ninety miles. 

From this place I obtained the first good view of 
Mount Hood, the grandest mountain peak in North 



J 



60 JOURNAL OF 



America. Mount Ranier, in Washington Territory, 
and Mount Shasta, in Cahfornia, may be a Httle high- 
er, but are said not to possess such majestic beauty. 
The day is not distant when landscape painters, the 
wide world over, will delight in transferring to canvas 
the many charming pictures of natural scenery in the 
Territories of Washington and Oregon. The one who 
best succeeds in delineating old Mount Hood will de- 
serve the greatest renown. 

Adjoining Fort Vancouver, between it and the Col- 
umbia River, is an old trading post of the famous Hud- 
son Bay Company. It has always been the head- 
quarters of this great monopoly of trade in the North- 
west. Here is where its Governor or chief factor had 
always resided until lately. This company held for 
many years unbounded sway over all the Indians west 
of the Rocky Mountains, from California to the Russian 
possessions in the far north. 

The Hudson Bay Company commenced its opera- 
tions in Canada as early as 1670, under a charter of 
Charles II. It had for many years of its early exist- 
ence a formidable rival in the French Northwest Fur 
Company. The latter was in fact the pioneer in the 
trade in what was then known as the Territory of Ore- 
gon, embracing, at that period, the whole Pacific 
slope lying between the Rocky Mountains on the east, 
the Pacific Ocean on the west, California on the south, 
and Russian possessions on the north. There were 
many bloody conflicts between the two companies un- 
til they finally united in 1821. 

The Hudson Bay Company owned at one period on 
this coast five trading stations and twenty-three forts. 



A/HMV LIFE. 36 1 

It had, besides, trading parties extending into Utah, 
California, and Arizona, and northward all the way to 
the Russian American possessions. In order to facilitate 
commercial intercourse among the numerous bands and 
tribes of aborigines living in the vast extent of countr}- 
in which it had an exclusive charter to trade, the Hudson 
Bay Company found it expedient to supply them with 
a common language, called the jargon, composed 
mainly of Chinook, with a mixture of a little French, 
and words coined expressly for the occasion. This 
jargon answers the same purpose to the Indians in Ore- 
gon that the pantomime does to the prairie tribes 
east of the Rocky Mountains. Merchants and Gov- 
ernment officers, who have business relations with the 
Indians, tind a knowledge of it verj- useful. 

Some army friends of mine who had served in Ore- 
gon sufficiently long to learn to speak it with facility, 
chanced to meet at the St. Nicholas Hotel, in New- 
York, a short while ago, and, in their conversation 
with each other, used the jargon altogether, much to 
the wonderment of bystanders, who were unable to 
guess their nationality. 

The Hudson Bay Company, having so long held an 
absolute commercial control over the Territory of Ore- 
gon, began to imagine that it really had a fee simple 
right to the soil, or. at least, that Great Britain, through 
its occupancy, possessed this title. Great Britain began 
as early as iSiS to agitate with the United States the 
question of ownership; but, as no conclusion as to title 
could then be arrived at, it was, in a convention between 
the two Governments, agreed that in order to prevent 
disputes among themselves, the citizens and subjects 



362 yOURXAL OF 

of the two powers should hold a joint occupancy of 
the country for ten years, from October 20th, 181 8. 
Whereupon the policy of the Hudson Bay Company 
was exercised in encouraging British immigration, and 
discouraging as much as possible, not only American 
traders, but all settlers from the United States. 

It is stated that as many as eleven different Ameri- 
can fur companies tried their luck in the Territory, but, 
owing to the overshadowing discouragement of the 
Hudson Bay Company, were unable to succeed. 

Finally, however, Americans, through nuclei formed 
by missionary settlements, gained a permanent footing 
in the country, and though the joint occupancy of the 
subjects of Great Britain and the United States con- 
tinued until 1846, it was then concluded in convention 
between the two powers that the forty-ninth degree of 
north latitude should be the boundary line between the 
possessions of the two Governments on the Pacific 
Coast. 

Article First of said treaty reads as follo^vs: " From 
the point on the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, 
where the boundary laid down in existing treaties and 
conventions between the United States and Great 
Britain terminates, the line of boundary between the 
territories of the United States, and those of her Brit- 
anic Majesty, shall be continued westward along the 
said parallel of north latitude, to the middle of the 
channel which separates the continent from Vancou- 
ver's Island, and thence southerly through the middle 
of the said channel and Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific 
ocean; provided, however, that the navigation of the 
whole of the said channel and straits, south of the forty- 



AJ?MV LIFE. 363 

ninth parallel of north latitude, remains free and open 
to both parties." 

Article Second states that all that part of the Col- 
umbia River lying south of the forty- ninth parallel of 
north latitude, should be free to the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany and British subjects trading with them. 

Article Third stipulates that the possessory rights 
of the Hudson Bay Company and other British sub- 
jects, should be respected. 

This treaty was ratified on the fifth of August, 1 846. 
Many persons maintain that all of our Indian difficul- 
ties on this coast, have had their origin either directly 
or indirectly in the machinations of the Hudson Bay 
Company. While it is in all probability not true that 
the company itself, or any one of its leading officers, 
has ever incited the savages to war with the Ameri- 
cans, yet its employees were guilty of so doing. 

It is a fact, however, that the Indians looked upon 
the members of the Hudson Bay Company as simply 
coming among them for purposes of trade, and not 
with the view of takinof their land and removino- them 
to reservations, as has always been the custom of the 
Americans, or •' Bostons " as they called them; hence 
they very naturally look upon the former as friends, 
and the latter as enemies. The kindness of the first 
missionaries to the Indians, smothered for awhile their 
savage hatred, only to burst out when least expected, 
in some terrible massacre, as that of Dr. Whitman 
and his missionary friends by the Cayuse Indians, on 
the twenty-eighth of November, 1847. 

The history of all such massacres, proves how un- 
worthy the Indian is to be called the noble red man. 



364 JOURNAL OF 

His treachery and ingratitude soon efface from those 
who know him best, all romantic notions of the ele- 
vated traits of his character, as imbibed from Cooper's 
novels. There are exceptions, but as a rule it will not 
do to rely on the friendship of an Indian towards the 
white man. When his savage nature is aroused, he 
falls on friend and foe alike. Such examples are in- 
numerable. One of the latest is the killing of Captain 
Ben. Wright, the Indian Agent, in the Port Orford 
district, during the uprising of the Coast Indians last 
winter. Although it is asserted by some, that in 1850 
Ben. Wright had harshly treated the Modoc Indians, 
on the upper Rogue River, yet after he became Indian 
Agent, his sympathies seem to lean, if either way, in 
favor of the Indian, and against the white man. He 
stood like a wall of adamant between the two races in 
their numerous quarrels on the coast, in the vicinity of 
Port Orford. 

There are many romantic stories related of this rude, 
but brave and very remarkable man. He was the Kit 
Carson of the Pacific Coast. Whilst at Fort Van- 
couver, I attended church and heard the chaplain, the 
Rev. Dr. McCartey, preach. He is better known as 
the " fighting parson," from some sermons preached 
by him previous to accompanying the American Army 
in the war with Mexico. Leaving- Vancouver at three 
p. M., twenty-fifth of August, in the steamboat " Sig- 
norita," Captain Wells, I took a trip to the Cascades, 
which I reached at 'j\ in the evening. This portion of 
the river reminds me very much of the Hudson. The 
natural scenery is perhaps more picturesque, especially 
for some twenty miles below the Cascades, as this part 



ARMY LIFE. 365 

of the river is flanked by the bluffs and peaks of the 
Cascade Range of mountaiils through which it runs. 
At several places the river is confined by beautiful, 
high, perpendicular columns of basalt, the highest be- 
ing called Cape Horn, because it projects somewhat in 
the river. An occasional little cascade tumbling into 
the latter, adds to the beauty of the scenery. One of 
these is said to be four hundred feet high, some even 
call it five hundred; but I scarcely think that it is over 
three hundred. The Cascades proper, are nothing 
more than rapids, formed by the Columbia's rushing 
precipitately over a steep, rocky bed. They are dis- 
tant one hundred and forty miles from the ocean, and 
about fifty from the mouth of the Willamette. 

There is a portage of four and a half miles on the 
Washington Territory side over a good military road 
(not quite completed) at that point; there being a 
steamboat landingr and a block house at each extrem- 
ity; also, one of the latter about midway. At each of 
the block houses are stationed a small detachment of 
U. S. troops. It being at these three points that the 
Cliokitat Indians made an attack last spring, killing 
some thirteen persons, and burning all the houses, ex- 
cepting Mr. Bradford's, at the upper landing. It was 
at the latter point that they came so near destroying 
the steamboat "Mary." When the attack began, the 
engineer let go his boat, and, pushing out in the stream, 
she came within an ace of being carried over the cas- 
cades; but fortunately he, although severely wounded, 
was enabled to get up sufificient steam to prevent this 
catastrophe and start up the river. On reaching the 
Dalles, and giving the alarm, Colonel Wright's com- 



366 JOURNAL OF 

mand immediately moved to the rescue, and drove the 
enemy to the mountains. • Recapturing a good deal of 
plunder, and capturing some Indians — nine or ten of 
whom were subsequently hung. The enemy, on lay- 
ing the plan of attack, had calculated upon Colonel 
Wright's command of the Ninth Infantry having taken 
their departure from the Dalles for the Yakima country. 
But it seems the Colonel's command had got but a 
short distance from the place when he heard of the 
trouble at the Cascades. The temperature of the Cas- 
cades is moderately cool in summer and cold in winter, 
heavy clothing being comfortable the year round. 

Atigust 26th, 185^' — I have crossed the Columbia at 
the Cascades to the Oregon side in a skiff, and am 
patiently awaiting the departure of the little steamboat 
" Mary" for Portland. There are but two boats ply- 
ing between this and the latter place at present, con- 
nectinpf througrh the Portaore with the same number 
above the Cascades. The river at this point is only 
about four hundred yards broad, running through a 
mountain gorge, which extends some fifteen or twenty 
miles. The river bottom here, including its bed, is a 
mile broad, and bounded on each side by almost per- 
pendicular mountain spurs two or three thousand feet 
high, covered with fir. The whole aspect of the country 
is romantic in the extreme, and well worthy of a visit. 
A short distance above here is a small mountain, on 
which are collected several hundred Indians, who, as a 
body, have remained friendly during the present war — 
only a few of them having joined the Clickitats in their 
attack on the Cascades in March last. 



^HMV LIFE. 2)^^ 

I saw at Vancouver, Colonel George Wright, the 
chief in command of the United States troops now in 
Oregon and Washington Territories, and was informed 
by him that the hostile Indians of Washington and 
Eastern Oregon had agreed to make peace, and had 
thrown themselves under the protection of the troops. 
Old Kimiakin and other influential chiefs, however, 
have left their people and declined to come to terms. 
This may turn out a source of embarrassment, The 
Colonel is busily engaged in erecting block houses and 
forts in the Indian country east of the Cascades. He 
has established a new post at W^alla Walla and one at 
Simcoe, which is in the Yakima country. It is in con- 
templation, also, to have a second in the latter region. 

Fort Yamhill, Oregon Territory, Sc[)t. 5th, 1856. 

Leaving the Cascades on the twenty-sixth ultimo, 
in the steamboat " Mary," I arrived at Portland, Ore- 
gon Territory, on the same day, and took lodging at 
the Metropolis, kept by Mr. Keith. This is the finest 
hotel that 1 have ever seen in so small a place as 
Portland, a town of some 1,700 inhabitants. The city 
is situated on the west bank of the Willamette River, 
twelve miles from its mouth, and is the first in point of 
size and commercial importance in Oregon. With the 
exception of a few brick buildings, the houses are of 
frame, painted white. The largest, handsomest and 
most substantial store in the place, is owned by a 
colored man, by the name of Francis. The building 
itself is brick, and cost $8,000. The employees of the 
establishment are white men, the " boss " rarely show- 
ing himself. 



368 JOURNAL OF 

On the twenty-eighth, I started for Oregon City, a 
distance of only twelve miles, in the steamboat " Port- 
land." This is a very neat town of probably five hun- 
dred inhabitants, and is located on the east bank of 
the Willamette River, just below the falls. The lat- 
ter, in high water, extend the whole breadth of the 
river in a very irregular line, and are said to be beauti- 
ful. In truth, even at the present low stage of water, 
they present a very picturesque appearance. The 
pitch of the water is about twenty feet over perpen- 
dicular basaltic rock. Immediately in the rear of the 
town, and extending its whole length is a steep bluff, 
one hundred ?nd twenty feet high, back of which is a 
fine plateau. The surrounding country is thickly settled. 
Almost every farm contains a fine young orchard, 
fruit being far more valuable to the producer than 
grain. Wheat; for instance, is at present worth only 
seventy-five cents per bushel, and rapidly falling in 
price; whereas, apples can be sold on the trees at 
eight dollars per bushel. 

I am informed that General McCarver has disposed 
of his apples this year on the trees, for $3,000. They 
retail in the shops at from six to twenty-five cents 
apiece; pears and peaches a little higher. 

On Sunday I attended divine service at the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. On Monday I took my de- 
parture up the river in the steamboat " Hoosier," 
which got off just about sundown; but being unable to 
pass Rock Island before dark, returned, and took a 
fresh start early the following morning. She went 
about thirty miles that day, and tied up for the night, 
the crew and passengers, as usual, sleeping and taking 




VIEW OF CAPE HOIIN ON THE COLUMBIA RIVEE— Page 36G. 



ARMY LIFE. 369 

their meals on shore, there being no accommodations 
on board. Some ten miles from Oregon City, a plug 
flew out of the boat's boiler, from which all the steam 
escaped into the furnace, extinguishing the fire instan- 
taneously. Fortunately, this mishap did not detain us 
long, as we were near a rapid, up which it would have 
been necessary to have " poled " the flat boat which 
the " Hoosier" had in tow, even had the accident not 
occurred. So, whilst the crew, assisted by the passen- 
gers, were getting the former over this place, the Cap- 
tain succeeded in re-plugging the boiler, and steaming 
up again. 

On the following day we reached a landing near the 
mouth of the Yamhill River, about eleven a. m., whence 
I walked to Dayton, a distance of four and a half miles, 
where I arrived a little after noon. The "Hoosier" 
reached there a little before sundown; beine detained, 
as was anticipated, by a low stage of water in the 
Yamhill, rendering it necessary to use the poles fre- 
quently. She is the most miserable excuse of a steam- 
boat that I have ever seen. The boiler and machinery 
are worn out, and should have been condemned years 
ago. It is of so ordinary a occurrence for a plug to 
fly out, or a flue to collapse, that it is considered of 
very little importance by the crew and captain, all of 
whom are green hands in the management of steam 
power. 

To give a further idea of the frail character of the 
boat, I shall simply mention that several of the crew, 
getting drunk, commenced dancing, when the Captain 
ordered them to stop, or else they might shake down 
the smoke-pipe. 



370 JOURNAL OF 

Dayton is on the right bank of the Yamhill, some 
forty miles from Oregon City by water, and twenty- 
four by land. It contains three or four stores, a post- 
ofhce, tavern, and half a dozen dwellings. I there had 
the pleasure of seeing my friend. General Palmer, late 
Superintendent of Indian affairs in Oregon. I came 
from Dayton to this place on horseback, a distance of 
thirty miles. 

The valley of the Yamhill, through which I passed, 
contains many pretty prairie farms, partially fenced, 
and having fine young orchards of a few years' growth, 
and moderate improvements in the way of frame cot- 
tages, which present a neat exterior, but are generally 
left unfinished within until building- material and me- 
chanical labor shall have become more within the reach 
of the owner's means. Here and there may be seen 
the familiar log cabin of Arkansas and Missouri. The 
Yamhill constitutes a small but important part of the 
beautiful Willamette Valley, the garden spot of Ore- 
gon. All the cereals and common garden vegetables 
grow here in the greatest abundance. So do most of 
the fruits of a temperate climate — such as apples, pears, 
plums, cherries, strawberries, etc. Fruit trees bear 
much earlier than in the States. The farms do not 
contain a great deal of timber, but there is an abund- 
ance of this in the Coast Range of mountains near by. 

This post is located on the northern pass of the 
Coast Reservation, Oregon Territory, about latitude 
45° north, longitude 124° west. In a direct line it is 
three quarters of a mile west of the South Fork of the 
Yamhill River, fifteen miles from the Pacific Ocean, 
forty-nine south of the Columbia River, and forty-five 



ARMY LIFE. 3 J I 

south southwest of Portland. It commands the main 
outlet through the Coast Range of mountains, from 
the Indian Coast Reservation, to the valley of the 
Yamhill, Its immediate position is on a gentle west- 
ern slope, overlooking on the west, a small, somewhat 
circular valley, called the Grande Ronde, and termina- 
ting on the east and southeast by a bluff, the base of 
which defines a portion of the left border of the Yam- 
hill Valley. With the exception of the latter and the 
Grande Ronde, the surrounding country is mountainous 
and thickly timbered, principally with fir, though 
maple, wild cherry and alder, are to be found at a few 
points. Near the post and down the Yamhill, are 
some very fine groves of white oak. There are no 
swamps in this vicinity, at least in summer, and the 
streams are all rapid, clear and pure. Malarious fevers 
are almost unknown here. 

The post is garrisoned by a company of the First 
Dragoons and one of the Fourth Infantry. The com- 
missioned ofificers are Captain Andrew J. Smith, (in 
command), Brevet Captain Oliver H. P. Taylor and 
James Wheeler, Jr., of the First Regiment of Dra- 
goons, Captain Delancy Floyd Jones, of the Fourth, 
and Lieutenant William B. Hazen, of the Eighth In- 
fantry, and Dr. Charles H. Crane, whom I relieve. 



3/2 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

AT FORT YAMHILL. 

Visit to the Coast — An Indian Attack upon Governor Steven's Escort — Splendid 
Mountain Scenery from a point near Fort Yamhill — Two Murders in Garri- 
son — A Government Train perishes in the Snow — A Hard Trip through Deep 
Snow — The Indian Department and the Indians lose much Stock — The In- 
dians threaten to return to Rogue River — Whites Stampeded — In order to 
stay the hand of Death, the Indians resolve to kill their Doctors — My Horse 
falls and rolls down a Hill — Captain Stevenson's Skirmish with the Indians 
in Florida — The Mormons — A Fourth of July Accident prevented by Lieu- 
tenant Sheridan — Welcker's Wedding Festivities — Mormon Troubles — Syn- 
opsis of the Weather. 

Fort Yamhill, September i6th, 1856. 

I visited the coast yesterday, to see some sick men 
of a detachment of soldiers at that place, and returned 
to-day. The road is a bad one, especially in wet 
weather, though with a little more labor, is capable of 
becoming tolerably good for summer traveling. It 
runs through thick timber nearly all the way. Four 
miles from the ocean is a very high hill, commanding 
the best view of the Pacific I have ever seen. 

Most of the Indians of the reservation being those 
who were lately hostile;, are at present encamped im- 
mediately on the coast, near the mouth of Salmon 
River; the remainder are in the vicinity of the post. 
They are all living in tents, furnished them by the Indian 
Department, who contemplate giving them material 
for the erection of huts. They are fed by the govern- 
ment. Some of them seem contented, but many, 
especially the Upper Rogue River Indians, grumble 



ARMY LIFE. 373 

considerably, and talk of leaving before long. I hardly 
think they will carry out so rash a design. Their dis- 
content, however, suffices to get up little stampedes 
among the settlers occasionally; we have had two 
since my arrival here, in both of which it was reported 
that the Indians contemplated breaking out and cut- 
ting everybody's throats. 

October ^tk, 183^- — We have had a fortnight of de- 
lightful weather. Yesterday, however, and to-day, it 
has been showery. In consequence of some Cala- 
pooya Indians having left the reservation night before 
last, for their old homes, Captain Taylor, First Dra- 
goons, with eighteen men, was this morning dis- 
patched to bring them back. 

Yesterday, some eighty or one hundred Klamath 
Indians were sent back to Klamath Lake, in Southeast- 
ern Oregon. They did not belong to this reservation. 
Excitinof news in our Indian affairs have reached us 
from Walla Walla. We must await a few days for 
particulars. 

October 6tk, i83^- — By the Oregon papers, we learn 
that Governor Stevens, of Washington Territory, in 
his capacity of Indian Superintendent, was holding a 
council with the Indian tribes of Washington Terri- 
tory, between Cascades and Bitter Root mountains. 
The council being held near Fort Walla Walla, was 
opened on the eleventh, and closed on the eighteenth 
of September, without being able to effect any treaty 
with the Indians. The following tribes were repre- 
sented: John Day's Umatillas, Tyhs, Nez Perces, Des 



^ 



374 JOURNAL OF 

Shutes, Walla Wallas and Cayuses. Old Kimiakin, 
Owhi, Qualston (Owhi's son), and the chiefs of the 
Spokanes and other tribes in that section, declined at- 
tending the council. 

On the nineteenth. Governor Stevens, with his train 
of twenty-eight ox teams, and some two hundred loose 
animals, escorted by Captain Goff's Company (K), 
consisting of sixty-eight men, Washington Territory 
volunteers, belonging to the command of Colonel B. 
F. Shaw, started for the Dalles. They had proceeded 
but a short distance, when the Indians made an attack 
upon them. A corral was formed with the wagons, 
and the train put in a state of defence, and an express 
sent to Colonel Steptoe's command of United States 
troops at Fort Walla Walla, for reinforcements. 

About one a. m. of the twentieth, Lieutenant J. W. 
Davidson, with seventy men and a howitzer, arrived, 
when the Indians, who had kept the camp surrounded 
some fourteen hours, were driven off. Governor Ste- 
ven' train then moved back to Fort Walla Walla, and 
remained there until the twenty-third, when Colonel 
Sfeptoe gave him an escort for the Dalles. 
' As the Indians had burned all the grass around Fort 
Walla Walla, the Colonel was compelled to send the 
most of the Government stock with the escort as far 
as the Umatilla River to graze. 

Thursday, October 30th, iSj^. — During the last three 
weeks, it has rained nearly half the time, and yet the old 
settlers around here insist that the rainy season has not 
set in. It is, perhaps, a month ahead of time; to-day, 
however, has been beautiful and clear. Captain De- 



ARMY LIFE. 375 

lancy Floyd Jones, Lieutenant James Wheeler, Jr., and 
myself, availed ourselves of its charms, by ascending 
the top of a mountain peak, some four miles from the 
Fort. Having gone to its base on horseback, we dis- 
mounted, and made the ascent on foot. The height is 
probably a thousand or fifteen hundred feet above the 
surrounding valleys, and three or four thousand above 
the ocean. From its summit the view is magnificent, 
taking in the whole of the Yamhill Valley, and the 
snow-capped peaks of the Three Sisters, Mount Jeffer- 
son, Mount Hood, etc. 

There is no news of interest from the Dalles. Col. 
Wright, United States Army, with the available " regu- 
lar force" at his disposal, left there shortly after Gov- 
ernor Stevens came in, for the Walla Walla country; 
but what his plans are, have not yet been made public. 

December 20th , i83^- — From San Francisco we learn 
that on the third of November, the Vigilance Com- 
mittee, having surrendered the State arms to the au- 
thorities, the Governor of California withdrew his 
proclamation of insurrection, and the Committee are 
virtually disbanded. 

Last night a fatal affray occurred in garrison, private 
Connor, of F Company, Fourth Infantry^ being killed 
by a stab with a butcher knife in the hands of private 
Turner, of Company C, First Dragoons. On the 23rd 
of last September, a soldier of the latter company 
(Meehan) was beaten to death by another of the 
former. Stolzer, who committed the act, was tried on 
the 28th of last month at Dalles, in Polk county, and 
sentenced to a term of ten years in the Penitentiary, 



376 JOURNAL OF 

and to pay a fine of five dollars. Turner is now con- 
fined in the guard house at this post, and will also be 
tried for murder. The fact of two murders in so short 
a period is almost unprecedented in the United States 
Regular service. The parties in both instances were 
under the influence of " liquor" at the time — that great 
exciter of nine-tenths of all the crimes committed. 

January gth, 1837- — On last Friday, at 9 a. m., it 
commenced snowing, and continued, with short inter- 
vals, until Monday afternoon. It fell to the depth of 
twenty-two inches at this place; two and a half feet, 
eleven miles from here on the road to the Dalles; and 
twenty inches at the latter place; at Salem, fourteen 
inches; Portland, twenty-seven inches; Cascades, on 
last Thursday, three to six feet. It is not known 
how deep it is at the Dalles of the Columbia. Ac- 
cording to the last information from that point, some 
nine days ago, a Government train of one hundred and 
twenty-five mules and horses was caught in a snow 
storm between the Dalles and the new post on the 
Simcoe, in the Yakima country, and every one per- 
ished. Such snows being unusual in this Territory, 
most of the farmers are without sufficient provender for 
their animals, many of which will perish if the snow lay 
long. It has melted but very little since it first fell. 
Night before last the thermometer was down to 15°; 
last night 9° of Fahrenheit. 

Being compelled to go on Saturday to Dalles, thence 
to Salem, to get a power of attorney to send to San 
Francisco by the steamer due on the 10th instant, I had 
lull benefit of the snow storm. On my return yester- 



AJ^MV LIFE. 377 

day I found the traveling exceedingly difficult and un- 
pleasant. The mud in the roads was, at places, very 
deep, and had not frozen previously to the snow, so 
that my horse had to wade through the depth of the 
two combined, or cut his limbs by following the frozen 
footsteps of some previous equestrian. Then again, 
the sloughs, sluices, and branches were covered with 
ice. At Salem I attended a dancing party, given at 
the Union Hotel, and had the pleasure of seeing all 
the elite of the town, and the " big guns " of the Ore- 
gon Legislature, which is now in session at that place. 
I may remark that the present is as deep a snow as 
has fallen in Oregfon within the recollection of the old- 
est inhabitant — the ones of 1849 and 1853 not ex- 
cepted. 

January 20thy 2837' — The snow which fell between 
the 2nd and 5th instant lay on the ground about a 
fortnight without melting a great deal. Day before 
yesterday, however, a warm breeze sprang up from the 
south, accompanied with rain, which continued until 
this morning, when the sun shone forth for a few hours. 
The snow has entirely disappeared, except on the 
mountains, and the streams are greatly swollen. A 
large number of horses, belonging to the Indians, on 
this, the Coast Reservation, have perished during the 
present hard winter for want of food and shelter. And 
General Palmer, the former Superintendent of Indi- 
ans for Oregon, it is said, has lost thirty yoke of cattle 
from the same cause. He had them on the reserva- 
tion near the Siletz, breaking a piece of ground for the 
Indians, when the snow storm came on. 



378 JOURNAL OF 

March 20th, 1857- — The Indians on the Coast Res- 
ervation are becoming dissatisfied. Those at the Si- 
letz, embracing about one half of the whole number on 
the reservation, have lately held a council and deter- 
mined to go back to their old country. They are to be 
joined by some of the Upper Rogue River Indians at 
this place. The latter during the last war were by far 
the most troublesome and formidable. The former 
consist of the tribes that lived on Lower Roo-ue River 
and the Coast, in the Port Orford District, or Curry 
County. 

Captain Augur, the commanding officer of Fort Hos- 
kins, near the Siletz, sent an express to Captain Tay- 
lor, of this post, for an additional company to proceed 
to the Siletz, and prevent, if possible, any movement 
on the part of the Indians. Accordingly, Company H, 
Fourth Infantry, under the command of Lieutenant 
Wheeler, First Dragoons, will start for that point to- 
day. If the Indians contemplate making any move, 
they will postpone it during the inclement weather. I 
have no idea, however, that there is any more cause 
for the present excitement than we have had all win- 
ter, except that the period when the Indians would 
be the most likely to make a move, if at all, is ap- 
proaching. The settlers around here are greatly 
alarmed. All the whites at the agency, excepting three 
or four, have been frightened away. This state of 
things is to be deplored, for it will, undoubtedly, 
have a bad effect on the Indians, who may thus be 
reminded of doing what otherwise would not have 
been thought of. 



ARMY LIFE. 3 79 

April 1st, 1837. — ^ gredit day in the States for mak- 
ing fools of one's friends. It does not seem to be much 
celebrated in that mode out here. The steamer "Col- 
umbia" arrived at Portland on the 24th with New 
York papers of the 20th ultimo. Not much news of 
general importance. The most interesting item to the 
army, is the passage by Congress of a bill increasing 
the pay of officers. It gives each officer twenty dol- 
lars a month additional pay, and increases commuta- 
tion value of the ration to thirty cents. Taking all 
grades, this is an average increase of about five hun- 
dred and fifty dollars a year to each officer. 

Sunday, April 12th, ig^j. — The last nine days have 
been delightfully mild, clear, and pleasant, with a pros- 
pect of the same continuing. The farmers are all busily 
engaged in plowing for their spring crops. They have 
heretofore usually been able to break their ground in 
February and March, and to put in most of their spring 
crop during the latter month; but the continuous wet 
weather prevented their so doing this season. Many 
express fears that from the too rapid drying of the 
ground it will become very hard and difficult to plough. 
The soil seems to be somewhat peculiar in this respect. 
It is probably owing to the large proportion of argilla- 
ceous matter in its composition. There is no time in 
the year when the grass is not green. At present it 
of course presents a more thrifty and growing aspect 
than during the cold rains and snows of winter. The 
valleys are now covered with beautiful flowers, golden 
yellow predominating, though all colors are well repre- 
sented. The strawberry has been in bloom for more 



380 JOURNAL OF 

than a month. Great abundance of this deHcious fruit 
is anticipated. 

The Indians on the reservation near here have had 
another Httle difficulty among themselves. In conse- 
quence of so many deaths among the Upper Rogue 
Rivers, they recently held a council to determine who 
it was that had been causing them to die. What con- 
clusion this august body came to is not known, but ru- 
mor has it that they have resolved on causing to be 
killed various doctors, who have been bewitching them. 
As a commencement, they, this morning, shot an 
Umpqua doctor, who, just before dying, wounded his 
murderer. Sambo, in the leg. There is, of course, con- 
siderable excitement among them at present, and 
whether the matter will end without further bloodshed 
remains to be seen. 

April 20th, 2837- — Company F, Fourth Infantry, re- 
turned yesterday from the Siletz. The Indians at that 
point of the reservation, continue to be troublesome, 
though no outbreak has occurred, and with proper 
management on the part of the Indian Agent, the ex- 
citement will gradually calm down. 

The Yaquina Bay, about twenty miles from the 
Siletz, and at the middle of the coast line of the reser- 
vation, is found to be a ofood and safe entrance for 
small vessels. The Indian Department have already 
landed a schooner load of provisions there for the In- 
dians. 

Lieutenant H. H. Garber, Fourth Infantry, reached 
here a few days ago, and will remain until F Company 
takes its departure. Mr. G. Clinton Gardner, lately an 



ARMY LIFE. 38 I 

agent in the Quartermaster's Department at this post, 
and son of the former Surveyor-General of Oregon, 
having received the appointment of Assistant Surveyor 
and Astronomer to the Northwest Boundary Survey^ 
left us on the eighteenth instant. He is a very intel- 
ligent and worthy young gentleman. Lieutenant Wil- 
liam B. Hazen, Fourth Infantry, being ordered to join 
his reeiment in Texas, bade us farewell this morninor. 

April 2^d, 1837' — Weather continues beautiful; 
heavy frost (second of the season), last night; it has 
done much injury to the fruit. The roads are getting 
fine for traveling, and there is nothing I should like 
more than to take a daily gallop round the country, 
but, unfortunately, my horse is lame. On the twenty- 
eighth ultimo, while returning from a visit to a patient 
in the neighborhood, and attempting to ride over a lot 
of loose brush that had been thrown in a very deep 
mud hole, my horse sprained himself in the left hip 
joint; the brush was just being put down. Had I 
waited half an hour, until the man who was mending 
the road, had thrown in a sufficient quantity, the acci- 
dent would not have occurred. As the horse did not 
go decidedly lame, I paid no attention to the matter, 
and foolishly attempted two days thereafter, to follow 
a cow trail around a very steep hill, in order to avoid 
the muddy road below. As ill luck would have it, on 
reaching the very steepest point of the trail, my horse 
slipped on his right hind leg, and suddenly (from pain 
in the left hip, perhaps,) let himself down behind, and 
rolled over, and continued rolling to the bottom of the 
hill, a distance of forty yards, and exceedingly steep. 



382 JOURNAL OF 

From the suddenness of the fall, I came within an ace 
of being crushed to death under the saddle, but man- 
aged to extricate mvself from the latter before it was 
too late. The horse was, of course, very much 
stunned; I at first thought him killed. Strange as it 
may appear, he escaped without a broken bone; he 
was badly bruised, however, and the sprain in the hip 
rendered worse. Being a splendid animal — worth 
some three hundred dollars — I regret exceedingly the 
accident. 

May 2d, 1837' — ^"^ g'^i'^g' to see a patient this morn- 
ing, whose hand I amputated five days ago, my horse 
fell with me again. The fall was so great and sudden 
that he threw me on the ground with considerable 
force, but I escaped without a bruise. I was in hopes 
that he had recovered from the sprain received a month 
ago, but it seems not. After his fall I rode him some 
thirty miles, during such time he gave way on the left 
hind leg several times, but without letting himself com- 
pletely down. He shows no signs of lameness, except 
when tramping on a rolling stone or uneven ground. 
I observed to-day that he does not "track" (step his 
hind foot straight after the fore one,) with his left hind 
foot, but turns it a little outwards. This is a sure sign 
of sprain in the hip joint. 

June 14th, 1S37- — "^he troops operating against the 
Florida Indians have been unable to effect much dur- 
ing the present winter. From the following extract of 
a general order of General Scott, we learn about all 
that has been accomplished : 



« 



AR3fV LIFE. 383 

" Lieutenant Edmund Freeman, Fifth Infantry, rec- 
onnoitering with a small party in the Big- Cypress 
Swamp, near Bowleg's Town, Florida, was attacked 
by the Seminoles March 5th, himself and three of his 
men severely wounded and one man killed. Captain 
Carter L. Stevenson, Fifth Infantry, with his command, 
called, by express, from Fort Keais, twenty miles dis- 
tant, came rapidly to the relief of Lieutenant Free- 
man's party, attacked the enemy, and, after a gallant 
skirmish, put them to flight, with an evident loss to the 
Indians, the extent of which could not be ascertained, 
owing to the density of the hammock." 

Since then nothing has been done in that quarter, 
and General Harney has been ordered to turn over his 
command to the next in rank, and proceed to take 
command of a large force of cavalry and infantry about 
to start on the plains — destination unknown. It is 
surmised that they may ultimately go to Salt Lake, 
as the Administration is endeavoring to prevail on 
some one to accept the appointment of Governor of 
that Territory, so as to supplant Brigham Young, who 
threatens resistence to the United States authority if 
removed. It seems that the Mormons, for several 
years past, have practically treated the laws of the 
United States as a nullity — obeying no law but that of 
the church. Recently they have made the lives of our 
judicial officers there, so insecure, that several of them 
have resigned. Judge Drummond among others. I see, 
in a letter from the latter gentleman, published in the 
papers, in answer to some inquiries of Mrs. Gunnison, 
that the Mormons, in his opinion, instigated and as- 
sisted in the murder of her husband. Lieutenant Gun- 
nison, of the United States TojDographical Engineers, 



384 JOURNAL OF 

who was killed in or near Utah several years ago, the 
murder being supposed at the time to have been com- 
mitted by the Indians. 

The Mormons have, for several years, been apply- 
ing to Congress for admission into the Union; but, as 
several very grave questions arise as to the propriety 
of admitting them with their present so-called religion, 
the subject has heretofore been evaded by Congress. 
According to the Constitution, we have no right to 
apply any religious test in the admission of a Territory; 
and, as polygamy is a part of their religion, it becomes 
a serious question how to dispose of the matter; for 
the civilized world, and the people of the United States 
especially, look upon this feature of Mormonism as de- 
cidedly immoral and degenerating. The question very 
naturally arises whether such a system as the Mor- 
mons profess can be viewed as a religion in the meaning 
of the Constitution. Our best interpreters of the law 
differ upon the subject. Hence the dilemma of Con- 
gress; and whilst the latter continues to stave off the 
question, the Executive is left in an embarrassing po- 
sition in its dealings with this strange people. An 
open conflict with the United States authorities, it is 
feared, will result ere long. 

June 15th, 1857' — ^"^ the requisition of Captain 
Augur, commanding Fort Hoskins, Company F, Fourth 
Infantry, was dispatched to the Siletz yesterday morn- 
ing. It is reported that some of the Indians at that 
point are getting troublesome, and supposed to be on 
the eve of leaving the Reservation. 



ARMY LIFE. 385 

July 4th, 1837' — Lieutenant Philip H. Sheridan, of 
the Fourth Infantry, with a detachment of thirty-two 
men from H Company, Fourth Infantry, and D Com- 
pany, Third Artillery, arrived here June 25th, and re- 
lieved Company C, First Dragoons, which, with its offi- 
cers, Brevet-Captain O. H. P. Taylor and Lieutenant 
James Wheeler, left for Fort Walla Walla on the 29th 
ultimo. Lieutenant Sheridan and myself are now the 
only commissioned officers at this post. In honor of 
the day we fired a salute of thirty-one guns at 12 m., 
also a shell. The serofeant in char^je was on the eve of 
putting the latter in the howitzer with the fuse reversed. 
The mistake was seen and corrected by Lieutenant 
Sheridan, otherwise an explosion of the howitzer might 
have been the result. 

August 6th, ig^y. — For the past three months I have 
been kept very much engaged in making professional 
visits through the neighborhood. The country north 
and east of the post is pretty thickly settled, and I 
have all the difficult cases to attend within thirty miles 
of this place. They never send for physicians in ordi- 
nary cases. 

On the 23d ultimo I concluded to give myself a few 
days respite, and, accordingly, started for Fort Van- 
couver to participate in the wedding festivities gotten 
up to celebrate the marriage of Lieutenant William T. 
Welcker, of the Ordnance Department, to Miss Katy 
Adair, daughter of General Adair of Astoria. There 
were three parties given ; one by the officers' mess in 
garrison ; another on board the United States Steam- 
ship " Active," lying off Vancouver in the Columbia 



o 



86 JOURNAL OF 



River ; and the last and most brilliant of all, by Captain 
Rufus Inealls, Assistant Quartermaster United States 
Army. The following are some of the most prominent 
persons present at the latter. Captain Prevost, and 
Secretary of the British Navy ; Lieutenants Cuyler, Bas- 
sett, and Johnson, Dr. Brown, Major Davis, Chief En- 
gineer, Mr. Jordan and Mr. Warren, Assistant Engineers, 
and Mr. West, Watch Officer^ all officers of the 
''Active," a United States Naval Steamship, Captain 
Shaddock and Lieutenant Mason, of the United States 
Revenue Service, and Mr. Archibald Campbell, the 
Commissioner on the part of the United States to run 
the Northwest Boundary, and the following army 
officers: — Colonel Morris, Captain Smith, Captain 
Waller, Captain Augur, Major Alvord, Captain Ingalls; 
Drs. Potts, Herndon, and DeLengle ; Lieutenants 
Hodges, Myers, McFeely, Mendell, Mallory, Wickliffe, 
Wickler, and Hughes ; and the following civilians : — 
Messrs. Grover, Green, Stark, Kibben, Rankin, Daniels, 
Noble, Brooke, etc. The ladies were mostly wives of 
army officers, though seven or eight unmarried ones 
were present, among others Miss Corbett, Miss Ellen 
Adair, and Miss Abernethy. The supper was bountiful 
and gotten up in splendid style. Everything passed off 
delightfully. It was given on the evening of the 30th 
ultimo. 

On the following day I took passage on the "Active" 
for Portland, and started the same afternoon for this 
post, where I arrived the next day. Mechanics are at 
present engaged in finishing our quarters. 

The Indians on this portion of the reservation give 
us very little trouble, except when drunk. Notwith- 



ARMY LIFE. 387 

Standing the severity of the law, there are several vaga- 
bond white men in this vicinity who sell them liquor. 
They usually escape punishment on account of the dif- 
ficulty of getting any one to testify against them. How- 
ever, the law has one fellow in limbo, and it is to be 
hoped will make an example of him. 

September gth, iS51- — Weather continues delightful- 
ly pleasant, with cool, refreshing nights — splendid for 
sleeping. Fruit is much more abundant this year than 
last. Apples are now selling at from one dollar to six 
dollars per bushel; last year they brought from four to 
ten dollars. They have been ripe about a month. 
The farmers of Washin2:ton and Oreofon Territories in 
consequence of the drought, have raised very light 
crops of grain and garden vegetables this year. The 
grain sowed last fall did well; but, as the preceding 
winter had been so severe as to kill much of the 
wheat, (there being no snow to protect it,) the major- 
ity of the farmers postponed sowing until spring, hop- 
ing that they would then have sufficient good weather 
for the purpose. The rainy season continued unusual- 
ly long, however, and ceased so abruptly that the 
ground baked almost as hard as rock, rendering plow- 
ing impossible. Most of the grain produced this year is 
what is known in this country as '' volunteer " — that is, 
such as springs up from the wastage of the preceding 
crop, without any cultivation whatever. Many ot the 
farmers depend on their volunteer crops for two years 
in succession. But, notwithstanding the small quan- 
tity of grain produced this season, it is very low in 
price. This is owing to the dullness of the San Fran- 



o 



S8 JOCR.XAL OF 



cisco market. The want of an available foreign market 
is one of the ereat drawbacks to Oresron farmers. 
High price of labor is the next most important. It is 
this last feature that renders many more advocates for 
slavery in this Territory than would otherwise be. 
Two or three years ago, one would have scarcely 
thought the question would ever be agitated; but now 
that the Territorial Convention is in session for the 
purpose of framing a State Constitution, the advocates 
for slavery are found to be quite numerous. They are, 
however, doubtless in the minority. 

The news from the Atlantic States is not very inter- 
esting. Amonof the most noticeable is, that a larcre 
mmiber of United States troops left Fort Leavenworth 
about the last of July, e7i route for Utah. Several bat- 
talions had started a few weeks previous for the same 
destination, making in all about one thousand three 
hundred men. A body of dragoons, intended for the 
expedition, is detained, for a short time, in Kansas, 
owing to a renewal of the excitement there between 
the slavery and anti-slavery party. The expedition is 
to be under the command of Brevet Brigadier- General 
W. S. Harney, so soon as he can be relieved from his 
Kansas duties, and joins it; and, on their arrival, they 
will be considered in a new department, called the De- 
partment of Utah. 

The object of sending so many troops into Utah, is to 
enforce the United States laws, the INIormons having 
heretofore proved very refractory. Their great head, 
Young, is to be supplanted as Governor, by Colonel 
Cummings, who, with many other civil officers recent- 
ly appointed for Utah Territory, is accompanying the 



ARMY LI PE. 



389 



expedition, Brigham Young has heretofore refused 
to be superseded, and has threatened resistance to the 
entrance of any more United States troops into his 
Territory. It now remains to be seen what he will do 
under the circumstances. Should he urge the Mor- 
mons into a general resistance, it will require a great 
many troops to put them down. They are now quite 
numerous, and have several thousand well disciplined 
soldiery, who, prompted by religious fanaticism and 
imaginary persecution, will fight desperately. They 
will hardly be so insane, however, as to come to an 
open rupture with the United States. 

October istj iSf>7- — The following is a synopsis of 
the weather during the past year at Fort Yamhill, 
Oregon Territory : 



1856 AND 1857. 



1856 

October. . . . 
November. . 
December . . 
1857. 
January. . . . 
February . . . 

March 

April 

May 

June. ... 

July 

August. . . . 
September. 



72'^ 
53' 

57"^ 
56- 

81= 
91'- 
92- 
95= 

87= 



29^ 
27-' 



9' 

34' 

35 

40- 

50^ 

44'^ 
42- 



•2'-" 



8.66 
9-33 



40. t 
43-67^^ 
38.88'^ 

38.79' 
4i.«3" 
47-42- 
55 ■48' 
57.27- 

57.85' 
61.72' 

6o.o5"j 27.66 
57.22" 19 



4.66 

2-33 
10.66 

27 
21 

20.66 
24.66 



22.33 
20.66 

29 

26.33 
25.66 
20.33 
3 
10 

9-33 
6.33 
3-33 
II 



J177.62I187.30 151 I 20 



13 

23 

20 

17 

23 

2 

13 

10 

I 

I 

II 



6.38 

6.63 

14.80 

11.86 
9-03 
8.52 
.10 
1.76 
I 28 

•05 

.10 

1.68 



62.19 



\gO JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

FORT YAMHILL VISIT TO FORT VANCOUVER, 

Loss of the Steamer "Central America " — Financial Crisis — Trouble among the 
Reservation Indians — Utah Expedition — An Expressman Drowned — Brigham 
Young more Conciliatory — Indians Moody ; Chief John and Son Shackled and 
sent to Presidio, near San Francisco — Frazer Kiver Mining Excitement — Ru- 
mored Fight with the Indians by the Troops under Colonel Steptoe. 

October ^otk, iS37- — After a tiresome professional 
ride through rain and mud, I am now enjoying my 
otizcm cum dignitate in a comfortable room before a 
cheerful fire, and can with feelings of perfect security 
listen to the howling blast and pelting rain, announcing 
the commencement of the rainy season. When the 
breeze is fresh here it usually blows a gale at sea. The 
Pacific is a rouofh and dangerous coast at this season of 
the year, at least that portion lying between San Fran- 
cisco and Vancouver's Island. But owing to there 
being so few vessels on these waters it is not often we 
hear of any great catastrophes occurring in this part of 
the great watery domain. Oh, how different on the 
Atlantic! Almost every States' mail brings some 
heartrending account of disasters at sea. By the last 
mail comes the melancholy intelligence of the total 
loss of the Steamship "Central America" (late "George 
Law"), with over four hundred passengers, the Califor- 
nia mail of the 20th of August, and about sixteen hun- 
dred thousand dollars in specie. She foundered at sea in 
a tremendous hurricane, on the 12 th of September, oft 



A/?MV LIFE. 



39^ 



Cape Hatteras. Not precisely known how many pas- 
sengers were saved — one hundred were transferred to 
the brig " Mariner " of Boston, including all the women 
(twenty-six) and children, and fifty others were picked 
up by the Norwegian bark "Helen," after the vessel 
had sunk. Two of these, Messrs. R. T. Brown and 
John D. Derment (the latter from Oregon), had been 
in the water twelve hours, floating on a piece of the 
hurricane deck, with cork life-preservers to their per- 
sons. The Captain (Lieutenant Herndon, United 
States Navy) was among the lost. 

There seems to be a great financial crisis taking 
place in the States. The ball was set in motion some 
two months ago by the failure of the New York branch 
of the Ohio Trust Company's Banking Association, 
and has been rollinof with accelerated motion ever 
since. Railroad stock was the first to suffer — its de- 
pression at present being incredible. Next the banks 
and merchants in regular succession. The money 
panic is of greater severity than has occurred for many 
years, and alarming mercantile disasters are constantly 
occurring throughout the Union, but mainly in New 
York city. 

There has lately been a little excitement among the 
Indians on the Coast Reservation, growing out of the 
killing of two Siletz Indians by Cultus Jim, of Old 
John's band. There being much sickness among the 
latter tribe, they superstitiously believed that these two 
men, who were medicine men or doctors, were causing 
it by their witchcraft. Cultus Jim accordingly waylaid 
and killed them — or, at least, killed one and wounded 
the other. A row being the consequence, the Indian 



292 JOURNAL OF 

Agent, Bob Metcalf, requested all the Indians who had 
fire-arms to surrender them. Old John's band at first 
refused to comply, but subsequently promised to obey. 
A reinforcement of thirty troops having in the mean- 
time arrived from Fort Hoskins, making, with those 
previously at the Siletz, fifty men, under the command 
of Lieutenant H. H. Garber. About the time that 
half the arms were given up by Old John, the murderer, 
Cultus Jim (the Chief's son), was found by the Agent, 
who, in company with Lieutenant Garber and a sergeant, 
attempted his arrest. Jim resisting and firing a pistol 
at Metcalf, was instantly shot by the latter and Lieu- 
tenant Garber. John subsequently threatened an at- 
tack on the troops, but things in that section seem 
quiet at present. 

November 30th, 2837- — ^^^^ ^^^^ from the States ar- 
rived last night. The financial crisis is increasing. 
Nearly every bank in the Union has suspended specie 
payment. Corporations, merchants, etc., breaking by 
hundreds. 

The October election in Kansas for member of the 
State Legislature passed off quietly. Results not yet 
known. United States troops were placed at all the 
points where riots had been apprehended between the 
contending parties. 

The Utah Expedition continues to engross public 
attention. It is not yet known whether Brigham 
Young will offer open resistance to it or not. The 
leading California papers have come to the conclusion 
that a conflict is inevitable, as the latest accounts from 
Salt Lake represent the Mormons as very much ex- 



ARMY LIFE. 



393 



cited, and preparing to resist the entrance of troops 
into the Territory. The advanced body of troops, 
seventeen hundred strong, under Colonel Albert S. 
Johnston, was within two days' march of Utah. Cap- 
tain S. Van Vleit, Assistant Quartermaster United 
States Army, had been sent to Salt Lake City in ad- 
vance, to ascertain from the Mormons the practica- 
bility of obtaining supplies for the troops. And it is 
rumored that although treated kindly, Brigham Young 
declined giving him any answer, but, on the contrary, 
delivered several belligerent sermons in his presence. 
I cannot believe them so fanatical as to bring on a rup- 
ture with the General Government. But JtotLs verrons. 
There is little doubt, however, but they have been for 
some time instigating the neighboring Indians to acts 
of depredation and murder on California immigrants. 

December i^thj 1837 > — To-day the mortal remains of 
Corporal Boland, G Company, Fourth Infantry, were 
brought to garrison. He was drowned on the 15th 
instant, while attempting to swim across Mill Creek. 
He was carrying the mail at the time from Portland, 
via this post, to Fort Hoskins. The mule, after float- 
ing down the stream a considerable distance, found its 
way out, and the "mail" was recovered, 

December 26th, iSjj. — A general court-martial con- 
vened at this post on the 24th, and adjourned on the 
25th instant. The members present were: Captain 
D. A. Russell, Fourth Infantry, Lieutenant Henry C. 
Hodges, Fourth Infantry, Lieutenant Philip H. Sheri- 
dan, Fourth Infantry, Lieutenant Nathaniel Wickliffe, 



394 JOURNAL OF 

Ninth Infantry, Lieutenant Wm. T. Gentry, Fourth 
Infantry, and Wm. B. Hughes, Ninth Infantry. Cap- 
tain David R. Jones, Assistant Adjutant-General, was 
Judge Advocate. 

Lieutenants Hodges and Gentry left for Fort Hos- 
kins yesterday morning, and the other gentlemen, ex- 
cept Sheridan, started for the same post this morning, 
where another court-martial is to be held — they hav- 
ing tarried a day to take a Christmas dinner with us. 
Our Christmas, by the by, went off quietly. We had 
the usual sine qua non for dinner — a fat turkey — which 
is a great rarity in this Territory. From the general 
mildness of the climate, one would suppose wild birds 
of this species to be abundant on this coast, but it is 
credibly asserted that there is not one on this side of 
the Rocky Mountains. Perhaps the varmints have 
exterminated them by destroying their eggs. The pole- 
cat, or skunk, is the most mischievous in this line; 
this country is overrun with them. Since the under- 
pinning of our quarters, they have discovered that the 
latter affords a most pleasant and safe retreat from the 
rain and snow, and have, accordingly, made some very 
snug little subterranean passages beneath the founda- 
tion walls. They seem to take it for granted that we 
admire the fashionable perfume, musk, and have char- 
itably determined to give us a benefit. I have re- 
turned the compliment by preparing for them, every 
night, a nice little piece of meat in a box trap, and 
when one is enticed into this snug little place, he is 
kindly conveyed some two hundred yards from the 
quarters, and a dose of lead gently administered from 
a double-barrelled shot-gun, thus demonstrating to 



AA'JIJV LIFE. 



395 



them the falsity of the philosophical dogma, that mat- 
ter is impenetrable. I have composed, in this manner, 
some sixteen of them, and believe that we shall, in the 
future, have a little rest. 

It seems from the official reports of Colonel Albert 
S. Johnson and Colonel Alexander, that the Mormons 
captured and burnt three supply trains belonging to 
the Utah expedition, consisting in all of seventy-five 
wagons. 

"On the morning of the 5th of October the Mor- 
mons burned two trains of Government stores on 
Green River and on the Big Sandy, and a few wagons 
belonging to Mr. Perry, Sutler of the Tenth Infantry^ 
which were a few miles behind the latter train." — Ex- 
tract from Colonel E. B. Alexander's Report to the 
Adjutant General, dated Camp Winfield, Utah Ter- 
ritory, October 9th, 1857. 

This occurred on Green River, some ninety miles 
to the rear of the vanguard of the army under Colonel 
Alexander. There was no escort with these trains at 
the time. No one was killed — the teamsters being 
permitted to retain four wagons and sufficient pro- 
visions to last them to Fort Laramie, where they were 
ordered by the Mormons to return. At the time of 
this occurrence. Colonel E. B, Alexander, of the Tenth 
Infantry, with the advance, was at Hanes' Fork, off 
Green River, awaiting the arrival of the commander 
of the expedition. Colonel Albert S. Johnson, of the 
Second Cavalry. From his official letter to the Ad- 
jutant General, dated Camp Winfield, Utah Territory, 
October 9th, 1857, it appears that Brigham Young had 
directed him to return forthwith from the Territory, 



396 yOUI?XAL OF 

and had sent him his proclamation forbidding the 
entrance of armed forces into the same, and had, 
at the same time, informed him, that if the United 
States troops would surrender their arms and ammu- 
nition they might remain where they were for the win- 
ter, but should return to the States in the spring. The 
Colonel acknowledged the receipt of the Governor's 
letter, and informed him that the United States forces 
were there by instructions from the President of the 
United States, and that he was awaiting the arrival of 
the commander of the expedition, whose orders would 
be obeyed. He reports that he will be able to resist 
any attack from the Mormons, and might, perhaps, be 
strong enough to act on the offensive when the troops 
should have all come up, and that his provisions would 
last about six months. Colonel Johnson was met by 
the expressman who brought Colonel A.'s letter two 
hundred miles west of Fort Laramie on his way to 
overtake the latter. 

One of the most ridiculous reports that has tended 
to excite the Mormons to their present state of rebel- 
lion, was that all the soldiers to be sent among them 
were to draw double rations in order to enable them 
to support a wife, who was to be seduced from the 
Mormons. This rumor was founded upon the fact that 
Harney was ordered to establish in Utah two or three 
double-ration posts — that is, posts where the com- 
mandinof officer would be entitled to double rations. 
These extra rations are allowed commanding officers 
upon the presumption that they do most of the enter- 
taining. A great mistake, by the by, for this is gener- 
ally done by the bachelor mess. 



ARMY LIFE. ^^97 

JmiMary 14th, ig^g. — Our little coterie consists at 
present of Captain D. A. Russell, Lieutenant P. H. 
Sheridan, Fourth Infantry; Messrs. Ingalls and Foster, 
the Sutlers; Mr. W. Holley, Acting- Assistant-Quar- 
termaster's Clerk, and myself. We get along smoothly 
and pleasantly together. Our new quarters are plainly 
but handsomely finished, and we have taken pains to 
furnish them accordingly. Could our Eastern friends 
drop in upon us for awhile, they might be surprised at 
the air of comfort surrounding us. If we could always 
have pleasant houses like these for winter quarters, we 
would cheerfully campaign during the entire summer- 
But, oh, how checkered is army life ! At this very 
time our military friends of the Mormon expedition 
are perhaps barely sheltered under canvas tents on the 
snow-covered plains of Utah, surrounded by enemies 
many times their number, who are urged on to deeds 
of treason, violence and blood against their race and 
countrymen, by the most sensual and revolting species 
of superstitious fanaticism that has blinded humanity 
since the wars of Mahomet. We are daily expecting 
orders to proceed thither — i.e., the majority of us. 
Were we all to leave, another Oregon war would soon 
be enofendered between the restless whites and dissat- 
isfied Indians. It is not possible or necessary to send 
a military force from here this winter. It would perish 
in the mountain snows. But it can be concentrated 
and fully equipped to make an early start in the spring. 
Similar expeditions will probably be dispatched from 
California and the western frontier about the same 
time. 



398 JOURNAL OF 

January 2gtk, 1838' — The news from the Utah Ex- 
pedition, via the Atlantic States, is up to November 
I St, and not very definite. It seems that four or five 
Mormons had been captured and one or two killed. 
They, with others, had been following in the rear of 
the army, stealing cattle. By the way of California, 
however, we have news from Salt Lake up to Decem- 
ber 13th, 1857. The whole force under Colonel John- 
ston had arrived in the Territory of Utah and were 
posted at Fort Bridger, and other points in its vicinity. 
The Mormons, on abandoning, set fire to the fort ; 
also burnt up all the grass in the neighborhood. They 
had stolen some twelve hundred cattle from the troops. 
The latter had retaliated by capturing a larger number 
from the Mormons. Governor Cumminofs issued his 
proclamation from Fort Bridger. It is rumored that 
Brigham Young had remarked in the Tabernacle that 
he was willing to admit Cummings, but not the troops. 

April 2gth, 1858- — On last Monday week, I took a 
trip to Portland, and also made a flying visit to Van- 
couver. The latter is as beautiful as ever. Of course, 
I mean the fort. The town is a miserable dirty vil- 
lage, full of liquor shops and discharged soldiers. 
Portland presents a very neat, flourishing appearance, 
and bids fair to become a large commercial city. At 
the latter place I succeeded in purchasing a splendid 
saddle and buggy horse, known all over the Territory. 
He is, beyond doubt, the finest saddle animal in Ore- 
gon. I got him for three hundred dollars; his value 
until lately has been five hundred dollars. 

On Friday, Captain Russell and myself started for 



AJiMV LIFE. 



)99 



home, where we arrived the following- day at 4 p. m. — 
distance, sixty miles. We could have come through 
in a day had we been in a hurry. 

There has been considerable excitement among the 
Indians on this reservation within the last fortnight. 
Old Sam's band of Rogue River's threatened to leave 
the reservation, and return to their old homes in South- 
ern Oregon. The Rouge River's at the Siletz, and the 
Coast Indians, from the neighborhood of Port Orford, 
also declared their determination to go back. The 
celebrated chief, John, seemed to be the prime mover 
in the ferment at the Siletz. Himself and son were ar- 
rested about eight days ago, shackled, and taken to 
Fort Vancouver. The immediate cause of his arrest is 
said to be a threat to take Agent Metcalf's life. The 
Agent's brother, who is living with him, was wounded 
not long since by an Indian. 

The Indians east of the Cascades are also becominof 
troublesome ao^ain. Nine head of cattle, beloneine to 
a Mr. Davis, living in the vicinity of Fort Walla Walla, 
and thirteen head ef the United States Commissioner's, 
at the latter place, were run off by the Palouse Indians 
on the 1 3th of April. A detachment of troops were 
sent in pursuit, but the Indians refused to give up the cat- 
tle. A row may be t;he consequence. It is also reported 
that two white men, on their way to the Colville mines, 
were killed by the Indians, not very far from Fort 
Walla Walla, a few weeks since. 

The Willamette Valley now presents a beautiful ap- 
pearance. Large crops of oats and wheat have been put 
in this season by the farmers, but, as is usual in this 
country, the harvest will probably be an expensive one, 



400 JOURNAL OF 

in consequence of so many persons leaving the Terri- 
tory for the newly discovered mines on Fraser and 
Thompson's Rivers in the British possessions. A 
mining excitement springs up ever Summer and causes 
nearly all the laborers and mechanics to quit their or- 
dinary duties, which pay them surely and well, for an 
uncertain livelihood in the mines. 

May 2']th, 1838- — We have received two Eastern 
mails since my last remarks — one on the 12 th, the 
other on the 25th instant. 

Congress is still harping on the subject of " bleeding 
Kansas," to the detriment of a vast deal of important 
unfinished business. It has only passed a few bills ; 
one is for the raising of three regiments of volunteers 
— two for the suppression of the Mormon rebellion, 
the other to guard the frontier of Texas. 

No late reliable news from Utah. In alluding to the 
Mormon difficulties, I should have added that the 
United States Utah forces are being reinforced by 
troops sent via Fort Leavenworth. Some started in 
the latter part of March — others were to go in April 
and the present month. General Persifer F. Smith, 
General William S. Harney, and Colonel E. V. Sum- 
ner, have been ordered to join the Utah Army. 

The Civil Commissioners have been sent thither to 
hold counsel with Brigham Young, and prevent, if 
possible, bloodshed. They are Ex-Governor Powell, 
of Kentucky, and Major Ben. McCullough, of Texas. 

Under date of April 29th, I mentioned the rumor of 
two men having been massacred near Fort Colville, in 
Washington Territory, and of some animals having 



ARMY LIFE. 



401 



been stolen from Fort Walla Walla by the Indians. 
It has since been contradicted that any men were kill- 
ed, but there is no doubt as to the stealing of the cat- 
tle. The commanding- officer of Fort Walla Walla, 
Colonel Steptoe, shortly after the stealing of the cattle 
by the Indians, started out into the Indian country 
with three companies of Dragoons, and a detachment 
of twenty-five Infantry. Our expressman brings a let- 
ter from an officer at Fort Vancouver stating that in- 
formation has just been received, via express, from 
Fort Walla Walla, that Colonel Steptoe had had a 
fight with the Indians, and been defeated — losing one- 
half of his command, all his provisions, most of his 
guns, and all the horses but fifty. The news was 
brought to Fort Walla Walla by Indians, and was be- 
lieved there, although not confirmed by any informa- 
tion from Colonel Steptoe or his officers. If there be 
any truth in the matter, it will be confirmed in a few 
days. 

26 



402 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

FORT YAMHILL FINANCIAL RUIN. 

Steptoe's Defeat — Chief John and Son Raise a Row on Board Ship and Get 
Wounded — Thirty Thousand Persons gone to Fraser River Mines — A Party of 
Ninety Miners under Robertson driven back by the Indians East of the Cas- 
cade Mountains — Financially Ruined — The Mormon Troubles Ended — A Cam- 
paign to be made against Confederate Indians in Eastern Washington and 
Oregon— Rumored Fight with the Indians by the Troops under Colonel 
Wright. 

Jicne 4th^ ^858- — The rumor alluded to above in re- 
lation to a fight between the United States troops and 
Indians is partly correct. The facts are these : On 
the 6th ultimo, Colonel H. J. Steptoe, Ninth Infantry, 
started from Fort Walla Walla, in Washington Ter- 
ritory, for an old Hudson Bay trading post, Fort Col- 
ville, with portions of C, E, and H Companies, First 
Dragoons, and a detachment of twenty-five men of 
the Ninth Infantry, and the following officers: Captain 
C. S. Winder, and H. B. Fleming, Ninth Infantry, 
Captain O. H. P. Taylor, and Lieutenants D. McM. 
Gregg, James Wheeler and William Gaston, First 
Dragoons — in all, one hundred and fifty, besides the 
packers. The object of the expedition is not precisely 
known, but seems to have been more to give the 
troops some experience in campaigning than anything 
else. It is certain, however, that they had no idea 
that there would be any resistance offered them. 

On leaving camp, on the morning of the i6th, they 
were told that the Spokanes had assembled and were 



J/^JlfV LIFE. 403 

ready to fight. Not believing this report, the march 
was continued until about eleven o'clock, v^hen they 
found themselves in the presence of six hundred war- 
riors in war costume. The command halted to have a 
talk. The Spokanes said they heard the troops had 
come out to wipe them out, and that they were ready 
to fight, and the troops should not cross the Spokane 
River. The Indians were well mounted, principally 
armed with rifles, and flanked the troops at a distance 
of one hundred yards. After some talk. Colonel Step- 
toe told his officers they would have to fight, but to 
let the Spokanes fire the first gun. The troops marched 
a mile, had another talk; no result except the most 
insulting demonstrations from the Indians. The 
troops were kept in the saddle three hours ready for 
an attack. The Indians dispersed at sunset. 

On the morning of the 1 7th, the command started 
for the Palouse, marching in the following order: H 
Company in advance, C in the centre, with the packs, 
and E in the rear. About 8 a. m., Indians appeared in 
great numbers to the rear of the column, and just as 
the advance crossed a small stream, commenced firing. 
In twenty minutes the firing became continuous. To- 
wards evening the troops' ammunition began to give 
out. Abandoning everything, they mounted their 
horses and left the hill at 9 p. m., and after a ride of 
ninety miles, mostly in a gallop, and without a rest, 
reached Red Wolf's crossing on Sucker River the next 
evening and were met by their friends, the Nez Perces. 
They had two officers, five men, and three friendly 
Indians killed, and ten men wounded — Sergeant Ball, 
of H Company, missing. The officers killed were 



404 JOURNAL OF 

Brevet-Captain O. H. P. Taylor, and Lieutenant Gas- 
ton, First Dragoons. The former was shot through 
the neck ; the latter through the body. Thirty horses 
killed in action ; none captured by the Indians. The 
two howitzers were abandoned with other thino-s. 
Number of Indians killed not known ; Lieutenant 
Gregg could count fifteen, and says the Indians ac- 
knowledged to have had forty wounded. 

Captain Taylor was formerly stationed at this post, 
Fort Yamhill, whence he was ordered to Walla Walla 
about a year since. Shortly thereafter he went to the 
States, and returned this last Spring with his wife and 
two children. They had not got comfortably fixed at 
Fort Walla Walla ere he was ordered out on the above 
expedition. He was an accomplished gentleman and a 
gallant officer. An intimate and dear friend of mine. 
How sad his fate, and the bereavement of his widowed 
wife and orphaned children. 

June 13th, 1838- — Sergeant Ball, alluded to above 
as missing, found his way into Fort Walla Walla some 
five or six days after the command returned. He was 
several days without food. It is now reliably reported 
that during the retreat of the troops, two men werejeft 
behind on account of their horses failing — Sergeant 
Williams (wounded) and a private soldier. They fell 
into the hands of the Indians, who told them to swim 
Snake River for their lives. They accordingly jumped 
in and made for the opposite shore, here some five 
hundred yards distant, the Indians in the meantime 
shooting at them. The private soldier reached the op- 
posite shore and Fort Walla Walla in safety ; the Ser- 
geant was supposed to have been shot in the water. 



AJ?MV LIFE. 405 

yu7te 20, 1S38- — The steamship " Pacific " arrived at 
Portland on the 19th instant, bringing three companies 
of artillery. The mail steamer reached there a few 
days afterwards with one more company, and the Com- 
mander of this Department, Brevet Brigadier-General 
Newman S. Clarke, together with his staff. Com- 
panies I and K, Third Artillery, and D, Fourth Infantry, 
are ordered to come up on the next steamer. E Com- 
pany, Fourth Infantry, is ordered up from Fort Jones 
by land. The four companies of artillery already ar- 
rived are A, B, D, and M. The General's Aide-de- 
Camp, Lieutenant Henry H. Walker, Sixth Infantry, 
arrived here last Friday, and left for Fort Hoskins on 
Sunday — thence will return to Fort Vancouver. The 
object of his visit seems to be to ascertain whether any 
troops can be spared from either of these two posts, to 
join the expedition now being organized to proceed 
against the hostile Indians in the North. There is 
only one company at each of the three posts which 
guard the reservation — viz: at Fort Yamhill, Hoskins, 
and Umpqua. 

Mr. W. informs us that Old John, the celebrated 
Rogue River chief, and son got into a row on their 
passage to California, in the steamer before the last. 
It seems that the Sergeant in charge had occasion to 
take them to the lower deck, when they grappled him 
and succeeded in securing his pistol, with which they 
commenced firing, both at the Sergeant and the persons 
who attempted to come to his rescue, whereupon one 
of the officers shot Old John through the nose and his 
son in the leg, which had to be amputated on his 
reaching San Francisco. It is thought that Old John 



406 JOURNAL OF 

and son supposed they were being taken to the lower 
deck to be hung — hence their conduct. It is a very- 
unfortunate affair, and will greatly impair the confi- 
dence of the Indians in the Whites. 

The Fraser River mines excitement increases. 
Thousands of persons are going thither from Cali- 
fornia, and hundreds from Oregon. 

yuly lyth, 1858- — The farmers in this vicinity com- 
menced harvesting about eight days ago, and have al- 
ready cut the most of the grain sown last fall. That 
put in this spring is not yet mature. The crops are 
unusually heavy. In consequence of the late rains, 
and unreasonably cool weather, there is considerable 
smut in the wheat. The harvest is hurried through, 
in order that the people may go to the mines on Fra- 
zer and Thompson's Rivers, in the southern part of 
the British possessions. The excitement about the 
mines is extraordinary. It is estimated that between 
twenty-five and thirty thousand persons have already 
started thither from California, nearly all of whom are 
at different points in the vicinity of the mouth of Fra- 
zer River, seeking a good trail to cross the Cascade 
Range of mountains. Very few had, at last accounts, 
reached the mines; and, as speculators, particularly the 
steamship companies, have great interest in keeping 
up the excitement, it is feared the richness of the 
mines is overrated, and that thousands of persons have 
left much better mining claims in California than they 
will get in the north. If the reports of abundance 
of gold are confirmed, it will be a snug thing for that 
section of country, and also for our adjoining Territory, 



ARMY LIFE. 407 

Washing-ton. The most intense excitement prevails 
about which is the best route to the gold region. Some 
contend for that up the Columbia River and by way of 
the Dalles; others say that a much shorter, and in 
other respects, equally as good a trail, can be found 
across the Cascade Range at Bellingham Bay. Ore- 
gonians, of course, go in for the former; but the present 
Indian hostilities on that route have hitherto prevented 
many from attempting to go that way. A party of about 
ninety men, under Captain Robertson, started from the 
Dalles some six weeks ago for the mines by that route, 
but were driven back by the Indians, with a loss of 
two men killed, several drowned and wounded, and all 
their pack animals, provisions, etc. Larger parties 
have since gone out with stock, and others are pre- 
paring to depart, through the same section of country. 
Our old friend, the ex-Superintendent of Indian Af- 
fairs, General Palmer, in one of the number. If the 
mines are no failure, a flourishing town must be built 
on this coast, in close proximity to the golden region. 
The great question is, where it shall be. The little 
town of Victoria on Vancouver's Island, in the British 
possessions, is at present the center of attraction. 
Town lots, which were not worth ten dollars previous 
to the excitement, are now renting there for one hun- 
dred and twenty-five dollars per month. Real estate 
in San Francisco, Sacramento, and throughout Cali- 
fornia is rapidly decreasing in value, in consequence of 
the vast drain upon the population. Flour, beef, and 
other provisions are rising rapidly in price in Oregon 
and Washington Territories. Speculators are hurry- 
ing all over the country, buying up all they can get at 
double what they were worth a few weeks ago. 



408 JOURNAL OF 

The troops expected by the last steamer arrived at 
Fort Vancouver. Captain H. M. Judah's company 
from Fort Jones, which came up by land, will also get 
there to-day. Two columns are to proceed against 
the hostile Indians — one battalion of nine companies, 
being four of the First Dragoons, four of the Third 
Artillery, and one of the Ninth Infantry, under Colonel 
George Wright, is to start from Fort Walla Walla; and 
another of five companies, that is, three of the Ninth 
and two of the Fourth Infantry, under Major Robert 
S. Garnett, from Fort Simcoe. They expect to get 
off by the first of August. 

There is really no news at this post of importance. 
A general court-martial was convened here on the 
15th and adjourned on the i6th instant, of which I was 
Judge Advocate. The members were : Captain David 
A. Russell, Lieutenant Henry C. Hodges, Fourth In- 
fantry, Lieutenant Joshua W. Sill, Ordnance Depart- 
ment, Lieutenant Phillip H. Sheridan, and Lieutenant 
William T. Gentry, Fourth Infantry. Only three 
cases tried — two of which were for desertion. 

Fort Yamhill, O. T., August 4th, 1858. 
I am now financially a ruined man. All my savings 
have been lost by the carelessness of an agent. Hav- 
ing good health and a large though laborious private 
practice in the vicinity of this post, I shall work harder 
than ever to secure a few thousand dollars to give me a 
start in civil life. This can be accomplished in a year or 
two — then good-bye to the army, frontier isolation, and 
further dependence on unreliable agents. If I were now 
to resign, which I am half inclined to do, my practice 



AJ?MY LIFE. 409 

in the Willamette Valley would soon make up my 
losses ; but city practice, although slower in the begin- 
ning, affords a better chance for distinction in the long 
run — so I shall strike for that or nothing. 

As my financial troubles alluded to above are anala- 
gous to those of army officers generally, who are 
under the necessity of employing agents to preserve 
their small savings, I shall give a general statement 
of the same : — 

On coming to this coast I left a portion of my means 
loaned out on interest, and secured by bond and mort- 
gage upon real estate in New York. Bringing the re- 
mainder with me, and placing it in San Francisco with 
an agent, who, from having once been an esteemed 
officer of the Army, of good financial ability, had the 
entire confidence of every military man in California. 

This gentleman having explained to me the various 
methods he had under his control for Investing the 
funds of his clients, I chose that of security by bond 
and mortgage upon real estate, as the safest, although 
yielding the smallest interest. From time to time I 
added a little to the amount left in his possession. 

After a short service in Oregon, I learned that my 
agent had ceased to carry on a legitimate banking busi- 
ness, though this was paying him well, and had em- 
barked pretty extensively in buying and selling of 
mining stock. Fully appreciating the hazardous char- 
acter of mining stock speculation, I made some in- 
quiries as to whether my money was really invested as 
requested, and was annoyed to find that it was not. 
After a tedious correspondence on the subject I suc- 
ceeded in having it placed out on mortgage, as directed. 



4IO JOURNAL OF 

In January of last year, a friend returned from Port- 
land with the news of my agents' failure, and added 
that nearly every Army officer on the Pacific Coast 
had thereby been plunged in penury. Seeing the ne- 
cessity of preventing the note owing to me, and then 
nearly due, from being paid into the hands of my agent, 
I hastily drew up a revocation of my power of attorney 
to him, and appointed a new attorney. I had the new 
instrument executed before a neighboring Justice of the 
Peace. But it being essential to secure a certificate 
from the County Clerk, to the effect that the officer 
before whom the letter of attorney was executed was 
really a Justice of the Peace, I rode twenty-five miles 
through one of the deepest snows that had ever fallen 
in Oregon, to Dalles, the County Seat. On arriving 
there the office was closed. I then continued a few 
miles further to the residence of a lawyer, who, unfor- 
tunately, told me that in order to make my paper legal 
I must go eight miles further to Salem, and get the 
power of attorney executed before a notary public. 
Contrary to my own judgment I followed his advice. 
This extra trip took up so much of my time that on re- 
turning to the Fort I found the expressman had already 
departed for Portland with the mail, thus causing a de- 
tention of a fortnight more before my document could 
possibly go down on the steamer. On the next trip 
of the latter she was detained ten days by ice in the 
Columbia River. To add still further to my troubles, 
my power of attorney was returned from San Francisco, 
to be certified to by the County Clerk, as I had at first 
intended. 

However, the instrument ultimately reached its des- 



A/^AIV LIFE, 41 I 

tination just in time, and my funds were forwarded to 
my agent in New York, who was directed to invest 
them, together with the amount left under his super- 
vision on my departure for the Pacific Coast, in sub- 
urban real estate in Chicago. Instead of folio Aang my 
instructions, he has kept the money in his own hands, 
and is now about to fail, leaving me the alternative of 
total loss, or taking worthless western lands. 

August i']th, 1S38' — Major B. Alvord, his brother, 
Mr. Vansycle, Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express Agent 
at Portland, Oregon Territory, and son, arrived here 
on the 15th instant, and left for Fort Hoskins this 
morning. 

The troops were paid for four months. They are 
entitled to their pay every two months, but the Pay- 
master rarely gets around so often. 

We learn that the mail steamer did not reach Port- 
land on the last trip until the 12th instant. She was 
detained by fogs, and by going in search of the steam- 
ship '' Oregon," which ran on the rocks at Point Reyes 
on her last downward trip from Victoria to San Fran- 
cisco. The accident is attributed to a variation in the 
compass — the Captain supposing he was running clear 
of the point some six miles, whereas he ran directly on 
it. There was a very dense fog at the time. As the 
vessel struck, many of the passengers sprang ashore, 
and some few are supposed to have been drowned in 
the effort to get on land. The engine was reversed 
immediately, and the steamer got to sea. She reached 
San Francisco in safety. The injury caused a consid- 
erable leak, but the holes were stopped with cloths^ 



412 JOURNAL OF 

and the vessel easily kept free from water by bailing. 
Captain Patterson was in command. 

It is now positively ascertained that there will be no 
war with the Mormons. The Peace Commissioners, 
sent to Utah by the President, arrived there about the 
7th of July, and had a conference with Brigham Young 
and the leading Mormons, who have agreed to yield 
implicit obedience to the laws of the United States; in 
fact Brigham Young had, about a month previously, 
given up the seal of the Territory to his successor, 
Governor Cummines. Both the Governor and Com- 
missioners went from Camp Scott to Salt Lake City 
unaccompanied by the army. The latter, under Bre- 
vet Brigadier-General Johnston, had, in the meantime, 
been reinforced to three thousand men, and replenish- 
ed with supples, and all the necessary equipments for 
a vigorous campaign, in case the Mormons proved ob- 
durate. Some two thousand more regular troops were 
also en route from the States. Also, Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Harney, (promoted last spring,) who was to as- 
sume chief command — General Persifer F. Smith hav- 
ing died at Fort Leavenworth shortly after being or- 
dered to Utah. In the early part of the Spring the 
Mormons commenced an exodus to the southern part 
of the Territory, with the view, as was conjectured, of 
seeking a new home somewhere in Mexico. They 
were, at last accounts, returning to their homes. 

The army had not, at last dates, approached nearer 
the city of Salt Lake than Camp Scott. Many of the 
troops ordered thither have, since the first report of 
Governor Cumminofs that Youna had turned over the 
Territorial Seal, been ordered to other points on the 



ARMY LIFE. 



413 



western frontier. One regiment of Infantry, either 
the Sixth or Seventh, has been ordered to Fort "Walla 
Walla, on this coast, to aid in quelling Indian disturb- 
ances. In the meantime the Commandant of the De- 
partment has dispatched all the available troops on 
this coast to that section — the main body consisting of 
about one hundred and ninety dragoons, four hundred 
artillery, and ninety infantry — total, six hundred and 
eighty, with about two hundred camp followers, pack- 
ers, wagoners, etc., or about nine companies, were to 
leave Walla Walla on the 15th instant; and the other 
column, of about five companies, under Major R. S. 
Garnett, were to start from Fort Simcoe about the 9th 
instant. The Indians, in the meantime, have been 
making great preparations for war, and state that they 
will not be subdued. 

They have lately driven back several parties of 
miners on their way to Frazer River. Larger parties 
have since gone out through the same section, well 
armed and prepared to fight their way to the mines. 
The largest party, numbering over two hundred men, 
commanded by a Major Robertson, has gone out, via 
the Dalles and Fort Simcoe. Another party under 
General Joel Palmer, has taken the route a little further 
east, via the Dalles and Fort Walla Walla. Others 
are preparing to follow. 

As it reofards the mines, we have no more reliable 
information than we had when the excitement first 
commenced, from the fact of the Fraser River region 
being hemmed in by mountains. Many of those who 
shipped for the vicinity of the mouth of Fraser River, 
with the view of crossing the Cascade Range in that 



414 



JOURNAL OF 



neighborhood, have returned in disgust. Thousands 
are, however, still awaiting at Victoria for a trail to be 
discovered. And it is now said that a good route has 
been found leading up Fraser River a short distance ; 
thence up a northern branch, or Harrison River; thence 
across a few small lakes, and over only a moderately- 
rough country to the mines. Nous verrons. 



September 14th, 1858' — Very close and warm all day. 
Our expressman arrived on the 12th instant, bringing 
Eastern dates to August 6th. 

The most important item of news is that the laying 
of the Atlantic Telegraph was nearly completed. 

General Johnston's command marched through Salt 
Lake City, July — , 1858, in admirable order — not a 
single individual permitted to leave the ranks. His 
permanent camp not selected at last accounts. The 
Mormons were returnino- to their deserted homes. 

There is a pretty reliable rumor that the troops under 
Colonel Wright met the Indians at Camp Four Lakes, 
and totally routed them. 



AI^MV LIFE. 4 1 5 



CHAPTER XXX. 

CLOSE OF THE INDIAN WAR IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 

Submarine Telegraph — Total Defeat of the Indians by Colonel Wright's Com- 
mand — The Indian War east of the Cascade Range at an End — Five hundred 
Passengers lost by the Burning of the Steamship "Austria" — Two children 
carried up in a Balloon — Chamberlain crossing the Plains alone with a Wheel- 
barrow — Nearly a fight with Old Sam's Band, whom the Troops disarm — 
"Tom, keep your gun, and let us shake hands in friendship." 

September 2jd, 1838- — Our expressman arrived from 
Portland yesterday. The mail reached there on the 
20th. The most important news is the success of the 
Submarine Telegraph Cable. It will be recollected that 
the first submersion commenced August 5th, 1857, and 
resulted in a total failure. The second trial was com- 
menced this last Summer. The telegraphic fleet con- 
sisting of three British vessels, the "Agamemnon," 
"Valorous," and "Gorgon," and the United States steam 
frigate, "Niagara," left Plymouth, England, on Thurs- 
day, June loth, 1858. Owing to boisterous weather, 
the first splice was not made till the 26th of June, 
in mid-ocean. The cable being broken three times, 
and four hundred miles of it lost, the fleet put back for 
Queenstown, Ireland, and started from there on the 
final and successful trip, July 17th, 1858, and met in 
mid- ocean Wednesday, the 28th, made the splice at 
I p. M., and on the 29th separated, the "Agamemnon" 
and "Valorous" bound for Valentia, Ireland, and the 
"Niagara" and "Gorgon" for the Bay of Bull's Arm, 



41 6 JOURNAL OF 

Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Both ends through 
August 5th, 1858. The first communications through 
the cable were a message from Queen Victoria to 
President Buchanan, and his reply. After that, various 
other congratulatory messages passed between some 
of the high functionaries of England and the United 
States. At last dates the Telegraph Cable was not in 
perfect working order, and would not be opened to the 
public for several days. 

* * Down, down to its lowest deep — but late deemed 
fathomless — go the magic wires, upon which play the 
harmonies of whole peoples. Under the homes of the 
Leviathans, clustered in obscurity and mystery, where 
no human eye can reach, and where early faiths placed 
the water-gods, run these cunning devices by which 
nation speaks to nation, continent to continent, in 
the lightnings of the heavens. The old theory of dis- 
tances, severances, and physical possibilities, seems 
destroyed, to be replaced by new combinations and 
consequences. The seas, storms, sucking-down argo- 
sies and armadas, are now compensated for by the 
prowess which seizes the deep and uses it for human 
purposes, declaiming in the language of nature itself 
— silent and sublime." 

Fort Yamhill, O. T., September 25th, 1858, 

The rumored engagement of the troops under Colonel 
Wright with the Indians is now fully confirmed. 
His expedition, composed of Companies C, E, H, and 
I, First Dragoons, A, B, G, K and M, Third Artillery, 
and B and E, Ninth Infantry — being a total of five 
hundred and seventy men, with thirty Nez Perces In- 
dians, acting as guides and scouts, left Fort Walla 
Walla, Washington Territory, in two divisions on the 



AJ^AfV LIFE. 4 I 7 

7th and 15th of August, crossed Snake River on the 
26th, where a post was estabHshed and placed under 
the charge of Brevet Major Wyse and his company, 
D, Third Artillery, and, after a hard march of ninety 
miles, and several slight skirmishes with the enemy, 
met a large band of Confederate Pelouse, Spokane, and 
Coeur d' Alene Indians, many of whom were mounted. 
Leaving the supplies and baggage under a guard of 
fifty-four men, under the command of Captain Hardie, 
Third Artillery, Colonel Wright, on the ist of Sep- 
tember, moved, with the rest of his command, against 
the enemy, who was posted on an eminence partly cov- 
ered with timber, ready for battle. The foot troops re- 
pulsed the Indians, who were pursued by the dragoons 
and completely routed, with a loss of seventeen killed 
and many wounded. The command suffered no loss 
whatever. After defeating the confederate bands of the 
enemy at the Four Lakes, in Washington Territory, the 
Colonel continued his march into the hostile Indian 
country, and, on the 5th of September, met the same 
tribes of Indians, who had in the mean time, been 
strengthened by the Pend d' Oreilles. After a desul- 
tory and running fight of seven hours, the Indians 
were again put to flight, leaving dead on the field two 
chiefs, two head warriors, and many others killed and 
wounded; with no casualties to the troops, except the 
woundino- of one man. 

After a day's rest, the command pursued the Indi- 
ans until they were entirel}^ and totally dispersed, hav- 
ing a skirmish with them on the 8th of September^ and 
taking from them nearly one thousand horses, many 
cattle, and a large quantity of provisions, grain, etc.. 



4i8 



JOURNAL OF 



which were destroyed. The Indians are reported to 
be completely demoralized, and willing to enter into 
stipulations for peace. 

October 1st, 1858- — The following is a summary of 
the weather for the past twelve months at Fort Yam- 
hill, Oregon Territory : 



1857 AND 1858. 



1^57 

Oclober. . . . 
November . , 
December . . 
1858. 
January. . . . 
February . . , 

March 

April! 

May 

June 

July 

August. . . . 
September. 



76- 
60° 
56- 

59° 
64° 
80^ 
80° 
91° 
82° 
94° 
95° 



27" 
27° 

25^ 

13° 

30° 

34 

37° 

46° 

46° 

46^ 

41° 



52.43' 
43.61^ 
42.44' 

38.43^ 
40.55" 
43.55' 
47-77" 
52.87° 
48.27° 
59.49° 
61.94° 
59-43' 



•^■Z 



18.66 

13-33 

7.00 

9.00 
10.00 
11.00 
15-33 
16.33 
18.00 

21-33 
18-33 
21.33 



15 



12-33 
16.66 
24.00 

22.00 
18.00 
20.00 
14.66 
14.66 
12.00 
9.66 
12.66 

8.66 



179.64 185.29 168 



I 



15 
15 
24 

15 
15 
25 
19 
16 

4 
4 
9 



17 






1.56 

7.58 

14.26 

9.18 

9-37 
7-51 
2.66 

3-87 

2-54 

.0* 

.16 

4.02 



62.71 



Quantity inapparent. 



October 2'jtk, 1858- — Lieutenant Benjamin D. For- 
syth joined this post on the 25th instant, after an ab- 
sence of two years from his regiment on the recruiting 
service. He is quite a social addition to our little cir- 
cle. 

Our expressman arrived from Portland yesterday, 
brino-ine us New York dates of the 20th ultimo. The 
most important news to us is that the Pacific Depart- 
ment has been divided into the Department of Cali- 
fornia and the Department of Oregon. The former to 



ARMY LIFE. 4I9 

embrace California, the latter the Territories of Ore- 
gon and Washington, excepting the Rogue River and 
Umpqua Districts, which are included in the Depart- 
ment of California. Brevet Brigadier-General New- 
man S. Clarke is placed in command of the latter, and 
Brigadier-General William S. Harney in command of 
the Department of Oregon. The latter's headquarters 
are at Fort Vancouver, where he arrived on the 24th 
instant. 

The General came prepared to make a Winter's 
campaign against the Indians. He had ordered one 
thousand rifles of the best model, a large number of 
high-topped winter boots, and warm mittens, etc. 
On his arrival he found the war ended, and the troops 
coming into winter-quarters. General Clarke had 
taken his departure for San Francisco, and the artillery 
companies had been ordered by him to California. 
This order General Harney countermanded. It is 
thought the Sixth Infantry will be retained in California, 
on its arrival there from Utah, en route for Fort Walla 
Walla, as it is more needed there than in Oregon ; 
besides, it is General Clarke's own regiment. 

The Indian War in Oreofon and Washington Terri- 
tories is considered over. The troops are all nearly in. 
Colonel Wright hung quite a number of Spokanes and 
other hostile Indians, for their murders and depreda- 
tions previous to the war. The notorious Oualchin 
among the number. He hung him on the 23d of Sep- 
tember. His father, Ouhi, the head chief of the 
Clickatats, and a man of orreat influence amonof the 
tribes generally in that country, was taken prisoner 
wnth the view of sending him to Benicia, California. 



42 O JOURNAL OF 

He attempted to escape and was shot by the guard. 
All the murderers of Indian Agent Boland, some seven 
in number, have been taken and hung; some by orders 
of Colonel Wright, others by Major Garnett. The 
latter gentleman has started for the States with the 
remains of his wife, who died at Fort Simcoe whilst 
he was absent in the field. Colonel Steptoe and sev- 
eral other officers have also gone East on leaves of 
absence, 

November 12th, 1858- — Colonel Joseph K. F. Mans- 
field, Inspector-General, arrived here on the 9th instant, 
and inspected the troops on the following day, and took 
his departure yesterday for Fort Hoskins. 

He brought up New York papers of October 5th. 
By them we learn that the Atlantic Telegraph is out 
of order. No intelligent signals have been passed on 
it from Valencia to Newfoundlaed since September 
4th, and a few days subsequently the signals failed in 
the opposite direction. It is supposed that one or 
more partial fractures have occurred in it several hun- 
dreds of miles out at sea. 

The steamship "Austria," bound from Hamburg z'/^? 
Southampton to New York, was burnt on the 1 3th of 
September, nine days out, and five hundred of the six 
hundred passengers lost. Those saved were picked 
up from life-boats and buoys near the scene of the dis- 
aster. It seems that the captain, by the advice of the sur- 
geon, had ordered the steerage to be fumigated with 
burning tar. The plan was to take a heated iron chain 
and moisten it with tar. The chain proving too hot to 
be held, the man let it fall and knocked over the tar- 



ARMY LIFE. 42 I 

bucket. The chain ignited the tar. The passengers, 
in their ienorance and confusion, dashed water on the 
burning tar, and thus spread it all over the deck and 
into the magazine, which exploded. The ship was, of 
course, destroyed in a few minutes. Instead of throw- 
ing on water they should have smothered the tar with 
mattresses and blankets. 

The papers also speak of a remarkable ascension of 
two children in a balloon. It appears that a Mr. S. M. 
Brooks was to have made a balloon ascension at Cen- 
tralia, Illinois, sometime in September, but he being 
sick at the time, a Mr. Wilson went up, and after sailing 
sixteen miles, landed near a Mr, Harvey's. Whilst 
Mr. W. was engaged in conversation with some gen- 
tlemen, Mr. Harvey amused himself by putting into the 
balloon his two children, a girl of eight years and a lad 
of three, and he then let the balloon loose, intending to 
allow it to ascend a few yards and draw it down again 
by means of a rope. But the latter slipped from the 
hands of those holding it, and up went the balloon out 
of sight. It was carried eighteen miles, and, descend- 
ing, lodged in the top of a tree, near a farmer's house, 
and was got down without any accident to the children. 
It seems that the little girl, after being up a long time, 
accidentally pulled on the rope which opens the escape 
valve, and, finding it lowered the balloon, kept on pull- 
ing till the latter descended. The man who first dis- 
covered their perilous predicament in the tree-top, was 
gazing out of his window a little before daylight to see 
the comet. 

By the by, this reminds me that a large and beauti- 
ful comet was visible in the western heavens every 



42 2 JOURNAL OF 

evening from early in September to the middle of Oc- 
tober. It could also be seen in the northeast and east 
just before daylight in the morning. There is a dispute 
among savans as to its identity. Some maintain that 
it is the comet of Charles the Fifth, which last made its 
appearance in 1556, others that it is a new comet, first 
discovered by Donati, in Italy, on the 3d of June — 
hence termed Donati's comet. 

Fort Yamhill, O. T., January 15th, 1859. 

After an exceedingly laborious day of professional 
duty through mud, rain and snow, I was late last 
evening warming my feet with delightful anticipations 
of a good night's rest, which had not been my fortune 
for some time, when a hasty and loud knock at my 
door warned me that some unfortunate person needed 
my assistance. I was requested by the Reverend Mr. 
Chamberlain to hurry to his house, several miles in the 
country, as fast as possible, as his wife was very ill. 
Wishing that I was anything else but a doctor, I never- 
theless obe)'ed the summons. 

It being necessary to cross the Yamhill River, which 
was very high, we unsuccessfully attempted to get the 
ferryman to put us over, and were driven to the neces- 
sity of swimming our horses at the ford. On arriving 
at my patient's house, wet and cold, I tried to get a 
cup of hot tea or coffee, but the lady of the house being 
ill, and her husband in one of his insane paroxysms, 
this beverage could not be obtained. After a deten- 
tion of a few hours I returned home again thoroughly 
exhausted. Such is country practice. 

Mr. Chamberlain is a Methodist minister of fair edu- 



ARMY LIFE. 423 

cation, and of agreeable, affable manners, when not 
insanely excited upon any subject. He believes him- 
self to be a missionary, especially called by God to 
evang-elize the Rogue River Indians. When this im- 
pression first took hold of him he was a resident of the 
State of Michigan; but suddenly leaving all of his world- 
ly goods and his very interesting family behind, he start- 
ed across the continent alone, taking his provisions along 
in a wheelbarrow. Of course, he replenished his sup- 
plies occasionally from the various emigrant parties that 
he fell in with ; but steadily refused to journey with 
any of them. Preferring to travel alone in the wild 
Indian country and trust only in the Lord, who had 
called him to regenerate a morally dead, and physically 
dying, race of men and women on the far-off Pacific 
shores. By persistent efforts he at one time obtained 
the appointment of school-teacher to the Indians on 
the Grande Ronde Reservation, but firmly refused any 
remuneration from the Government. The agent wisely 
appropriated his salary in supporting his family, who 
had in the meantime arrived from the States. 

The reverend gentleman would often take every- 
thing in the clothing and eating line that he could find 
in his house, and donate it to the Indians, who were at 
the time being well cared for by the Government, thus 
frequently leaving his wife and children destitute of the 
necessaries of life. Being put off the reservation by 
the agent, he went to Washington city without a dollar 
in his pocket, and by personal appeals to the Secretary 
of the Interior Department, got reinstated. The matter 
culminated, however, in his final dismissal from the res- 
ervation. 



424 JOURNAL OF 

He has taken up his abode in a miserable old log 
cabin (where I went last night), occasionally working 
and preaching in the neighborhood, abiding the good 
time when* all obstacles to his mission among his 
brethren, the Indians, shall have been removed. His 
faith and goodness of heart deserve better success 
than has thus far been his portion. 

February 10th, 1859- — The present Winter has been 
as wet, muddy, and dreary as usual. There is only 
one company at this post, and four officers, including 
myself. We are all bachelors. Our life at present is 
very monotonous. The Indians on the reservation 
cause us a little excitement, by way of variety, occasion- 
ally. Being split up into numerous small bands, and 
located in close proximity, they consequently quarrel 
a good deal among themselves. The greatest source of 
trouble with them, arises from their superstitious notions 
in regard to the supposed supernatural influence of 
their "medicine man" in producing or curing disease. 
As the latter profess an absolute power in this respect, 
they are held responsible for the lives of their patients 
should nature claim her rights, and if the doctor be un- 
willing or unable to pay a fair valuation for the de- 
ceased, it is customary for the latter' s relatives or 
friends to kill him. This was formerly a universal 
habit with the Oregon Indians, but is becoming ob- 
solete. Nevertheless, there have been no less than 
five or six doctors and doctresses killed by the Indians 
on this reservation — Grande Ronde — since I came here, 
two and a half years ago. The Indian and Military 
Departments have endeavored to persuade them out 



ARMY LIFE. 425 

of this absurd practice, and have lately determined to 
punish those who shall hereafter engage in it. 

A few days ago, the Umpquas, having a doctoress 
they wished to have killed, hired a party of Rogue 
Rivers to murder her. Some nine of them, accord- 
ingly, shot her to death. The commander of this post, 
Captain David A. Russell, immediately sent for Sam 
and Louis, the respective chiefs of the Rogue River 
and Umpqua Indians, to have a talk about the matter. 
The latter obeyed the summons ; but the former, not 
coming in time, was again sent for, and told to be here 
by noon of the 7th instant. He came, and was directed 
to return the following day with the murderers, or the 
troops would be sent to bring them and him, too. As 
the Umpquas had hired his people to commit the deed, 
he thought it unfair to have them held responsible for 
it, and, therefore, very reluctantly promised to comply. 
He did not return as commanded, and it was rumored 
that he would resist, should a force be sent to arrest 
them. As Old Sam's band of Rogue River Indians 
were known to be good shots, desperately brave, and 
armed with excellent rifles, we fully expected trouble. 

The reason why they had not been disarmed pre- 
viously, like the other Indians, was owing to their re- 
fusing to join the confederate hostile bands during the 
last Rogue River War, and the fact of their being the 
first to move on to this reservation. 

A detachment of fifty men, under Lieutenant B. D. 
Forsythe, accompanied by Lieutenant Phillip H. Sheri- 
dan and myself, was dispatched at 3 a. m., on the 9th 
instant, in the midst of a snow storm, to the camp of 
the Indians, with orders to disarm them and arrest the 
principal murderers. 



426 JOURNAL OF 

Owing to a difficulty in crossing the Yamhill River, 
which was very high, and an unexpected wearisome 
march over a mountain spur that lies near the camp, 
we did not reach the lattemmtil broad daylight. 

On arriving within a few hundred yards of the place, 
our force was divided into two parties. The smaller 
one, under Sheridan, was to dash on to the chief's 
shanty and arrest him. The larger, under Forsythe 
and myself, was to rush against the main village and 
disarm the inmates. 

Sheridan took Old Sam completely by surprise, and 
made him a prisoner. Forsythe and m3'self, having 
further to go, were seen by the Indians, who at first 
fled for the timber near by, but soon rallied. A few 
shots were exchanged without effect, and a parley 
was agreed upon. 

At the beeinnine of the excitement, the chief's son, 
a lad of twelve years, rode several times within forty 
yards of the soldiers, making the most insulting de- 
monstrations. On his last attempt Forsythe declared 
that he would stand it no longer, and raised his rifie to 
fire at the little fellow, but was restrained on my hastily 
reminding him of the boy's extreme youthfulness. 

Whilst the parley was going on, the majority of the 
Indians on one side, and the troops on the other, were 
arranged in two parallel lines, at a distance of forty 
yards apart. A few of the former were hidden behind 
their shanties, with their guns already pointed towards 
us. After thus standing face to face in the cold, pelt- 
ing snow storm for several hours, with no prospect of 
a peaceful surrender on the part of the Indians, For- 
sythe told them his patience was exhausted, and that 



ARMY LIFE. 427 

unless they should come to terms within five minutes 
he would fire upon them. Just as the time was about 
to expire they concluded to surrender unconditionally. 
We then simply disarmed those in hostile array, and 
arrested Shasta Jim, the chief murderer. 

Old Tom, the chief's brother, is one of the noblest 
specimens of an Indian I have ever seen. Bold as a 
Spartan, and with a stentorian voice, he is the beau 
ideal of a warrior. We feel confident that he never 
would have yielded had he not have believed that his 
prisoner brother, Sam, would have been the first victim 
of the fight. 

After the Indians had, at his command, handed over 
their arms, he came nobly forward and gave up his rifle 
to Forsythe. The latter was so impressed with his 
noble, soldierly bearing, that he returned him his weap- 
on, saying, with a quivering voice and tears in his 
eyes, "Tom, keep your gun, and let us shake hands in 
friendship." 

Umpqua Ellick, the main instigator of the murder, 
was also made a prisoner, and both he and Shasta Jim 
were confined in the guard-house at the garrison, at 
hard labor, with balls and chains attached to their legs. 
Sam was brought to the fort to receive a reprimand 
from the commanding officer, and was afterwards set 
at liberty. 



428 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE INDIANS AND THEIR RELATIONS TO THE GOVERN- 
MENT. 

Portland, Oregon, April 15th, 1874. 

HAVING given extracts from the only part of my 
private journal that could be of any interest to 
the general reader, I shall add a few remarks on sev- 
eral subjects alluded to in a disconnected manner in 
said diary — such as the Indians and their relations to 
the Government — garrison society — a comparative 
view of the climates the southwest and northwest coast. 
First, then, as to the Indians and their relations to 
the Government. So much has been written upon the 
subject of Indians by novelists and others, many of 
whom have never seen an Indian in their lives, except- 
ing the few representatives of various tribes who have 
occasionally visited their great father at Washington, 
that the theme has become somewhat threadbare. I 
think, however, that my experience will justify a few 
remarks upon the question, as I have seen the Indians 
in all their varied grades of life, from the civilized in 
the interior of the State of New York, and the half- 
civilized in the Cherokee and Choctaw nations, down 
to the wild Tonkaways and Comanches of our south- 
western prairies, and the Snake and Coast Indians, of 
Oregon. I have beheld them in health and in sick- 
ness, in peace and in war, and from a position ^ome- 



AJ?MV LIFE. 



429 



what different from that of most observers. Out of 
the sixteen millions of those red men who once roam- 
ed abroad over the vast area of the United States, 
there are now Hving about three hundred and forty 
thousand. War^ pestilence, and famine have made 
sad havoc with these original lords of the soil; and the 
day is not far distant when we will hear of them only 
in history. It is, therefore, the duty of every one who 
knows anything of this fast fading race, to place it upon 
record for the information of future generations. 

Some persons look upon the Indian as essentially a 
thieving, lying, cruel, relentless and murderous savage, 
worthy of no sympathy or love; and possessing no 
rights that ought to be respected, who should be shot 
down as a wild beast, and utterly exterminated from 
the face of the earth; whilst others paint him in glow- 
ing colors as possessing highly intellectual and moral 
qualities, and as being the innocent victim of the white 
man's revenge. One party denies the capability of an 
Indian to be civilized or Christianized, and pronounces 
all efforts towards this result by the Government as 
magnificent failures; whilst others believe that it is 
only necessary to explain to the Indian what civiliza- 
tion and Christianity are, and his whole nature is sud- 
denly changed. Others again, think that those Indians 
only who hover on the border of civilization, and whose 
habits have been changed by long and persistent cruel 
treatment on the part of the whites, deserve the name 
of savages; that to find the red man in his faithful, 
honest, hospitable, noble and brave condition, it is nec- 
essary to see him in his native home, undefiled by 
contamination with the rest of the world. 



430 JOURNAL OF 

When an Indian war occurs, a larger portion of the 
people of the Eastern States are too willing to believe 
that the right is always on the side of the poor Indian, 
who ought to be protected and kept out of harm's way, 
instead of being chastised into submission to the laws 
of the land, I cannot hope to reconcile or control all 
of these extreme views. It seem to me that the In- 
dian, in his native state, possesses but few attributes of 
a noble character. He is certainly treacherous, cruel 
and relentless. When his savage nature is aroused, 
he becomes a very fiend in human form, and treacher- 
ously strikes down them who have befriended him the 
most, especially if they belong to the white race. Yet, 
that he is capable of civilization, the history of a large 
number of tribes most fully attests. This change can- 
not be effected in a day, or a month, but, in its highest 
degree, requires many years. Under proper instruc- 
tion and treatment, he can, in process of time, be made 
an industrious, quiet and Christian human being. 

It should not be expected that any savage race 
could, in the short space of one generation, become 
adepts in the higher degrees of civilization. The most 
enlightened nations on the face of the globe can hardly 
claim such rapid advancement. It took centuries to 
make the Greeks and Romans what they were in the 
zenith of their prosperity, or the Germans, French and 
English what they are at present. Why, then, should 
we expect impossibilities of the American aborigines? 
My experience goes to prove that in our Indian wars 
the blame is not always on cither side alone. Some 
times bad men among the Indians kindle the flame; at 
other times, renegade whites. 



ARMY LIFE. 



431 



In the mininof regions of the Pacific Coast, the re- 
mote and immediate causes of hostihties are too often 
the abuse of the Indian women by a few bad white 
men. The lawless acts of the latter have served to 
give an unjustly bad reputation to the general popula- 
tion of the Pacific Coast. After an experience of 
nineteen years in this country, I feel proud to say, that 
the permanent settlers have been generally disposed 
to treat the Indians kindly, and that the abuse of the 
latter has nearly always been by a few vagabonds and 
desperadoes, belonging to, what is termed here, the 
floating population — especially in our mining regions. 
We must not, however, cast a stigma upon miners in 
general, because of the bad conduct of a few of their 
number, any more than we should cry down the occu- 
pants of St. Louis, Baltimore, New York, or Boston, 
because of the acts of lawlessness in their midst. 

This calumny of cruel treatment is especially unjust 
to the farmers of the northwest coast. Aside from 
moral considerations, this class of people, having their 
families with them, have always been particularly care- 
ful to avoid arousing the Indian's dreadful revenge. Oc- 
casionally the cause is traceable to petty thefts on the 
part of the Indians, and subsequent harsh punishment 
from the whites. Ao-ain, it is owingr to robberies or mur- 
ders by bad men among the former. The prime instiga- 
tors in all these troubles generally escape punishment, 
whilst the peaceably disposed of both races become 
the innocent victims of contending strife. The spirit 
of revenue being- once aroused in the breasts of the 
savages, they indiscriminately and cruelly slay every 
white person within their reach. Then comes the 



4-2 2 JOURNAL OF 

counter feeling of vengeance on the part of the border 
settlers, who call for the extermination of the Indian 
race as the only salvation for themselves. It is thus, 
by the indiscretion or wickedness of a few men, that 
such intense hatred is so frequently created between 
our pioneer settlers and their Indian neighbors. 

It is no wonder, then, that the volunteer troops, 
called out from the smoking ruins of their homes, and 
the dying shrieks of their fathers, mothers, brothers, 
sisters, wives, and children, in the indiscriminate slaugh- 
ter by the savages that ushers in an Indian outbreak, 
should be a little disposed to intemperate acts against 
the red men. Let such of our eastern friends, who 
think the white man always in the wrong, be placed, 
for a while, under the same circumstances as are the 
frequently unprotected and unavenged pioneer settlers, 
and they will soon come to the conclusion that their 
sympathies should occasionally be spared for their own 
deeply wronged race, instead of being forever extend- 
ed towards their idol, the poor Indian. 

The policy of the Government in placing the Indi- 
ans on reservations as fast as the white settlements en- 
croach upon their hunting and fishing grounds is, per- 
haps, the most humane that could be devised, provided 
it is carried out faithfully and honestly by its agents. 
When, however, the latter are appointed because of 
their political principles or services to any particular 
party, rather than on account of their peculiar fitness 
for the position, the poor Indian often becomes robbed 
of half his rights, and the plighted faith of the Govern- 
ment is thereby tarnished. 

The old system of political appointments in the In- 



AJ?AfY LIFE, 



433 



dian Department has been found imperfect and faulty 
in this respect. It remains to be seen how the plan 
adopted by President Grant, of removing the nomina- 
tions of agents and superintendents from the political 
arena, and eettine the various denominations of Christ- 
ians to select from among themselves reliable persons 
for these positions, is likely to succeed. In some 
places this method has worked admirably well. In 
others it has failed, because the agents thus appointed 
have leaned too much on the side of mercy, and de- 
layed too long the punishment of rebellious Indians, to 
the ultimate damaee and loss to the Government in 
money and valuable lives. 

I think, however, the dilly-dallying policy pursued 
under the influence of the Peace Commissioners in re- 
gard to the Modoc Indians, in the Winter of 1873, will 
for all time be a warning to Christian philanthropists, 
and help them to appreciate more fully their duties in 
the premises hereafter. Therefore, I hope that the 
affairs of the Indian Department, under the protection 
of good. Christian, and otherwise efficient men, may, 
after a little experience, be found to work well. If a 
failure be the ultimate result, then, by all means, let the 
Government merge the Indian into the War Depart- 
ment, where it once was, and from which it never ought 
to have been taken. There are many reasons why this 
should be done. 

Army of^cers are not broken-down political hacks, 
who for past or future services to their party, are ex- 
pected and permitted to make their short term of office 
pay them something beyond the mere bread and but- 
ter salary generally allowed by the Government ; but 



28 



434 JOURNAL OF 

gentlemen holding a life appointment of so honorable 
a nature that they cannot afford to have their reputa- 
tions tarnished by dishonest transactions, however 
profitable these might be to them in a pecuniary point 
of view. Besides, the Indian and War Departments 
rarely ever agree in their lines of policy towards the 
Indians in times of peace or war, and when an out- 
break occurs they are generally at cross-purposes, until 
the trouble is so far under way that nothing but mil- 
lions of money and hundreds of valuable lives can stem 
the fury of the savage contest. 

If, on the other hand, the commanding officers of 
the various military posts, on or adjacent to the Indian 
reservations; or in the country of the wild Indians on 
the plains, who may not yet be circumscribed in their 
field of roaming; were ex-officio Indian agents, the 
policy of the Government towards the Indians could 
be far more efficiently carried out. The Indians of 
each district would have only one white man chief to 
consult, instead of two, as heretofore, in regard to their 
wishes, and the instructions of their great father at 
Washington ; and would soon learn that whilst the 
latter sympathizes with his poor red brethren of the 
prairies and wild forests, and desires to shield and pro- 
tect them while good ; yet, when his anger is kindled 
by their misbehavior and crimes, punishment for the 
guilty is certain and swift. Simplicity is a jewel in all 
the multifarious relations of life, but eminently so in 
our dealings with the Indians, who, though physically 
men, are intellectually little children. 

Of course, there are some objections to merging the 
two departments into one. The Indians may not be 



ARMY LIFE. 435 

christianized as fast as by the present system,' and it 
may be the means of demoraHzing, in course of time, 
the army itself; for corrupt men are pretty sure to 
force themselves into all positions in life where much 
of the public money is disbursed. The latter objection 
holds to some extent in the present system ; but the 
Christian societies themselves can more easily watch 
their appointees than it is possible for the Government 
to do. 

The plan commonly adopted of placing these unfor- 
tunate people on reservations, and providing for their 
ph3Asical and moral wants, until they can take care of 
themselves, is not only dictated by the common prin- 
ciples of humanity, but is found by experience to be 
the most economical and prudent mode of dealing with 
them. 

The vast herds of buffalo which for ages have roamed 
over the plains, affording lodges, clothing, and food for 
the wild prairie tribes, have been so wantonly slaugh- 
tered by traders, sportsmen, and tourists, as well as by 
the improvident Indians themselves, that the latter can 
look to this, their natural source of physical susten- 
ance, but a few years longer at furthest. Likewise, 
the deer and elk of the mountains, and the fish of the 
rivers of the Pacific Coast are fast disappearing ; and 
even where they still abound, are claimed by other 
men, of a race antagonistic to the original owners of 
the soil. What then must become of these poor crea- 
tures if the Government should listen to the hue and 
cry of some of our people, and fail to lend a helping 
hand in time of need. Robbery and bloodshed would, 
of course, predominate along the extensive line of our 



436 JOURNAL OF 

frontier. For no race of men will suffer the pangs of 
nakedness and hunger without an effort to sustain their 
lives by stratagem or force, if no other means are at 
their command. Let them work as white men do, 
some would reply. But in order to work they must 
first be taught how, and afterwards have employment 
furnished them. This can only be done at the com- 
mencement on reservations, where they can be taught 
and induced to work for themselves. For nobody is 
willing to employ an uncouth savage to perform labor 
on his farm, or in his shop, or about his house, when 
he is aware that he can do nothing right except by 
constant watching. One might as well think of em- 
ploying an insane person as an Indian fresh from the 
haunts of his native home, whose sense of right and 
wrong is, in most respects, so radically at variance with 
the common precepts of morality and religion. Con- 
tinue to place them on reservations, and provide for 
their wants awhile ; and even though their morals in 
some respects become corrupted by contact with a few 
bad white men, who occasionally get access to these 
new abodes of the red men, this cannot occur to the 
same extent as when they are left to shift entirely for 
themselves. 

Having thus glanced at a few of the practical ques- 
tions growing out of our relations with the Indians, it 
might be expected that some general allusions should 
be made upon the various theories in regard to the 
origin of this race of human beings. Are they native 
to the manor born? Have they a common origin with 
the rest of mankind, from the original parent stock in 
Eden, and been propagated or^ the American Conti- 



ARMY LIFE. 



437 



nent by strag-gling parties from Asia or Europe ? Are 
they a cross between the Asiatic or European and an 
original race native to this continent? 

I am satisfied that no amount of traveling among 
the Indians can ever furnish sufficient data upon these 
interesting questions to satisfy conclusively the inquir- 
ing mind. Arguments of almost equal pertinence and 
force can be advanced upon each and all of these puz- 
zling human problems. Some investigators claim that 
the Indians are a separate and distinct people from all 
other nations and races — springing from one or more 
parent stocks originating on the American Continent. 
Others maintain that they have their origin in com- 
mon with the races of Europe and Asia, in our original 
ancestors, Adam and Eve ; and that in some remote 
period in the dim past a few persons from Asia, by ac- 
cident or otherwise, found their way in boats across 
Behring's Straits to the northwest coast of America, and 
thence, in due coure of time, spread their progeny all 
over North and South America and the adjacent 
islands. They adduce in support of this theory the 
strikinor resemblance in features and lang-uaofes of all the 
tribes to each other, and claim that the lanofuaee is 
traceable to a common root, which is exotic. A third 
party believe that a parent stock native to this contin- 
ent has been engrafted with the ten lost tribes of Is- 
rael. They think that the character and conformation 
of the heads of the aborigines, and many of their cus- 
toms, indicate that they have Jewish blood in their 
veins. The very general Indian custom of worshiping 
the Great Spirit — instead of stocks, and stones, and 
idols, as the ancient heathens and pagans did — is ad- 



43 S JOURNAL OF 

duced in support of this theory. Also the facts that 
the Indians are divided up into tribes and bands, under 
the authority of captains and chiefs, and have their 
prophets and high priests (medicine men), and make 
their women in all relis^ious festivals and ceremonies 
keep entirely separate from the men — like the Jews — 
are alleged as additional proof. They also claim a re- 
sembance in the modes of courting and marrying by 
the giving of presents, etc. 

Some authorities would have us believe that the 
wild Indians of the southwestern plains, especially the 
Comanches, are entirely different in appearance and 
habits from the numerous tribes that once existed east 
of the Mississippi, and present a striking resemblance 
to the Arabs. It seems to me utterly impossible for 
any person, at this late period, to determine fully the 
origin of this singular race of human beings. The 
more one endeavors to inquire into the arguments in 
support of any particular hypothesis upon the subject, 
the more intricate it becomes, until, finally^ we aban- 
don the question in utter despair of any solution what- 
ever. 

The wild Indians of the prairies, east of the Rocky 
Mountains, hunt and fight on horseback in the open 
prairie; so do some of the tribes residing between those 
mountains and the Cascade Range. On the other 
hand, the tribes and bands on the Pacific Coast, west 
of the Cascade Mountains, live, hunt, and fight mostly 
on foot, and under cover of rocks and trees, like the 
Indians who formerly inhabited the country between 
the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean. 

Nearly all of the Indians west of the Rocky Mount- 



AJ?/IIV LIFE. 



439 



ains, though using the bow and arrow when the fur 
traders first came among them in the earHer part of 
this century, have learned to handle the rifle with fear- 
ful accuracy and skill. This is pre-eminently the case 
with those bands who formerly inhabited the country 
adjacent to the upper part of Rogue River and its 
tributaries, in southern Oregon — especially the bands 
of Old Sam, John, George, and Limpy — who took 
such a prominent part in the Rogue River war of 1855 
and 1856; and were finally subdued by the troops and 
forced to go on the Coast Reservation, where they are 
at this time. It is also true of that other band of Up- 
per Rogue River Indians, who were not parties to 
General Palmer's treaty of 1855, or participants in the 
war that subsequently followed, and who were conse- 
quently not removed on the same reservation with 
their neighbors, but allowed to remain a while longer 
in their own country. I allude to the Modocs, whose 
names for Indian treachery and Spartan bravery have 
lately attracted the attention of the civilized world. 

It is said that the Comanches on the plains are slow 
to adopt the modern improvements in warfare, and 
cling tenaciously to the bow and arrow, lance and 
shield. The latter Indians also transport their lodges 
wherever they chance to roam; whereas, the Pacific 
Coast Indians, like the tribes which formerly inhabited 
the Atlantic Coast, have fixed places of abode, and 
cherish an abiding affection for the homes and graves 
of their forefathers. 

This feeling was a serious obstacle in the way of re- 
moving the Indians living on the coast shortly after 
the Indian outbreak of 1855 and 1856; and even after 



440 JOURNAL OF 

they were induced to go on the reservation, situated 
some distance north of their places of abode, and were 
clothed and fed by the Government, they pined for their 
old homes, and would often reply, when asked by the 
doctor what was the matter, that their tum-tums were 
sick — their hearts were sick. This homesickness 
weighed so heavily on some of them, that they actual- 
ly pined away and died. 

Why is it that the Indian race is fast becoming ex- 
tinct ? This question has often been asked, and some- 
times correctly answered. The greater causes are, of 
course, war, pestilence, and famine. These are posi- 
tive agents of diminution or reduction; but, before en- 
tering into their discussion, it might be as well to 
state, that for some reason or other, the Indians, wheth- 
er wild or half civilized, do not bring forth offspring as 
productively as the white races. This may be ac- 
counted for in a measure by the Indian mothers nurs- 
ing their young for a much longer period than white 
women do. Still this cannot be the only reason. The 
power of procreation on the part of the male, bears 
some proportion to the natural growth of the beard. 
The Indians being deficient by nature in this appen- 
dage, thus bear out the general physiological law. 

I do not desire to be understood that all Indians are 
unable to raise beard, and that is the reason why we 
never see them with any; but do mean to assert, that 
if they were to cease plucking it out — as it is the cus- 
tom, because they believe it a disgrace to have it — 
they could not produce, to the extent of the white man, 
this appendage, even though they so desired. This 
curious fact tends towards the support of the theory, 



ARMY LIFE. 44 1 

that they are nearly all a cross between a very dark 
and light race, being somewhat analogous in this re- 
spect to the amalgam of the Circassian and Ethiopian 
races. The negative cause^ then, of a want of fruitful 
reproduction should be taken into account in estimat- 
ing the reasons of the fast disappearance of this inter- 
esting people. 

Among the positive causes are the three just men- 
tioned — war, pestilence, and famine. Their incessant 
struofo-les agrainst encroachments of the whites are not, 
as many suppose, the main cause of their casualties in 
war; for, by far, the greater number perish from the 
internicine strifes among themselves, band against 
band, tribe against tribe, especially the stronger against 
the weaker, might being right in their moral or ethical 
code. These struggles have been rendered more un- 
equal and bloody by certain tribes learning the use of 
the modern deadly weapons of warfare before their 
enemies knew of any other means of fighting than 
with the primitive bow and arrow. Famine has, also, 
had much to do in thinninof the ranks of the red men. 

But, of all causes, pestilence has been, by all odds, 
the most destructive amonof them. Under this head 
small-pox takes the highest rank. In its successive 
onslaughts on these wretched people, it has swept 
them off by hundreds and thousands — in many in- 
stances almost exterminating entire tribes — as, for ex- 
ample, that nearly white, and worthy tribe, the Man- 
dons, who once lived on the Upper Missouri River. The 
small-pox was introduced among them in the Summer of 
1838, by the fur traders, and, in the short space of two 
months, all of these Indians died, with the exception 



442 JOURNAL OF 

of about fifty, who were subsequently enslaved by 
their neighboring enemies, the Riccarees. Thus, also, 
on the Pacific Coast, in what was then called the Ter- 
ritory of Oregon, seven-eighths of the Indian popula- 
tion living west of the Cascade Mountains fell victims 
to this horrible disease, between the years of 1 82 9 and 
1836. 

As startling as these facts are in regard to the fatal 
effects of this single scourge of the human race, it is 
not the only unseen enemy that is wont to carry dis- 
may and death in the Indian camp. Whooping cough, 
scarlet fever, typhoid and typhus fevers, epidemic dy- 
sentery, and measles, sometimes produce fearful havoc 
with this doomed race. 

It is now, and has always been, fashionable among 
a large class of even refined and educated people, to 
sneer at the medical profession as moral lepers, who, 
sailing under a system of high-sounding names, suck 
the pecuniary life out of civilized communities without 
conferring any benefit. Many of them go so far as to 
compare the condition of the whites, who are most 
under the influence of wise hygienic rules, imparted by 
the medical profession from time to time, to that of the 
Indians, who, they believe, in their utter ignorance, 
are' the most healthful, because the least doctored, race, 
on the face of the earth. 

For the benefit of such persons allow me to say that, 
after an experience of many years among our red and 
white brothers, I am fully convinced that it is mainly 
from the want of a practical knowledge of such princi- 
ples as our noble science inculcates, that the former suf- 
fer so much more than the latter from the ravaijes of 



A/?3n LIFE. 443 

disease. In time of health their modes of life in the 
open air, and their simple diet, conduce to robust 
health, as a general rule ; though even here the want 
of a knowledge of certain plain hygienic laws fre- 
quentl}^ renders them the prey of disease. This is 
eminently the case in malarious districts of the great 
west and southwest. 

When a permanent camp or a military post is about 
to be established anywhere in a malarious region, the 
medical officer seeks to have it located as far away 
from the low lands, river bottoms and marshes as the 
circumstances of the case will admit. If, however, a 
military necessity obliges, the site to be adjacent to 
such unhealthy spots, the side towards the prevailing 
winds of Spring and early Autumn is always selected 
so that the malaria from those places may be wafted 
away from, instead of towards, the troops. The most 
elevated situation is also preferred, if it be to the wind- 
ward of the marsh; but if to the leeward, never — unless 
it be so high that the winds, laden with the foul poison 
of the lowlands or marsh, cannot reach it; or there is 
no suitable place on the opposite side of the latter. 
The Indians, in their utter ignorance of these plain 
facts of medical hygiene, encamp wherever they can 
be most convenient to water, or the best sheltered from 
the storms. Some few of the bands or tribes will oc- 
casionally pitch their tents, or build their wigwams or 
lodges, on hills or elevated plateaux, but without re- 
gard to the location in reference to the winds and 
marshes. Hence, they are so often attacked by that 
unseen enemy, malaria, which creates more havoc in 
their ranks than all of their physical enemies combined. 



444 JOURNAL OF 

I often saw this fact demonstrated in the southwest 
• — especially among the roaming bands of Indians — 
both wild and half-civilized. Coming in from their 
Summer campaign on the prairies, with the view of 
spending the Autumn and Winter near the United 
States military post, and pitching their camp some- 
where to the leeward of the hot-beds of malaria, just 
alluded to, they would soon be prostrated with the 
various forms of malarious fevers — such as the inter- 
mittent, or fever and ague, the remittent, the pernici- 
ous, and later in the season, the winter fever; which is 
generally a combination of inflammation of the lungs, 
typhoid and malarious fevers. Aside from the utter 
inability of the Indian doctors to cure these diseases, it 
was very evident that their causes were more active 
among the Indians than ,with the soldiers in their 
vicinity; mainly because their " medicine men" are 
ages behind their pale-face confreres in the knowledge 
of the principles and rules maintaining health. 

It will not answer to say that the cases are not anal- 
ogous, for the reason that the troops are always so 
much better clothed, housed and fed than the poor In- 
dians. Whilst admitting- that the difference was not 
so marked as far as it regards malarial fevers when the 
troops were compelled to live in tents, which present 
a better resemblance than houses do to the Indian 
lodges, still it was always great. 

Food and clothinof need not enter into the scale of 
comparison, because the Indians use those things which 
are as well adapted to their habits, in a healthy point 
of view, as Uncle Sam's rations and blue suits are to his 
soldiers. And as to the many deteriorating influences 



ARMY LIFE. 445 

of health which the cravings of depraved appetites, or 
the proper duties of the two classes of persons now 
under consideration, produce, the prejudicial is mostly 
on the side of the soldiers, for whilst the Indians and 
the soldiers may suffer alike from the occasional use 
of bad whisky, the night military duties of the latter, 
such as being on guard, etc., expose them to the influ- 
ence of malaria at a time when its poisonous effects are 
the most powerful; whereas the former never keep up 
a night watch except on occasion of danger from foes. 

I might mention many other instances where the 
ignorance of the most common precepts of that do- 
main of the medical science which treats of the preven- 
tion of disease, caused much sickness among the Indi- 
ans; but, in order not to be tedious, shall pass it over, 
and shall simply state, that however deficient their skill 
may be in the preservation of health, it is still far more 
so in the means of its restoration. They are entirely 
ignorant, for instance, of any remedy for malarious 
fevers, possessing the least virtue. When the poor 
creatures in the vicinity of the post where I happened 
to be stationed, especially at Fort Arbuckle, learned, 
by sad experience, that but few soldiers died from the 
same sickness that was decimating them, they became 
importunate for medicine from the soldiers' doctor. Of 
course where I could get them to follow my directions, 
aid was freely rendered. 

In fearful epidemics among red men, they almost al- 
ways imagine either that they have been poisoned, or 
that some medicine man has cast a dreadful spell over 
them. Laboring under this infatuation they are, if 
not old residents of Indian reservations, where they, in 



446 JOURNAL OF 

time, learn better; generally shy of the pale face doc- 
tor, and can rarely be induced to take his medicine 
properly. Their "medicine men" depend mainly on 
incantations in the cure of disease, as well as in divert- 
ing any impending calamity. Yet the doctors of many 
bands use a kind of sweat-house, where they place 
the patient until the skin is almost scalded off his body, 
and then plunge him into the nearest stream of water, 
the colder the better, according to their notions. This 
treatment is adopted in epidemics of whooping-cough, 
scarlet fever, measles and small-pox, and generally with 
the most appalling results. 

The educated white doctor uses a somewhat analo- 
gous treatment, under the name of Russian baths^ for 
a few diseases, but never for the complaints above 
mentioned. Hence, again, the benefit of true medical 
knowledge to mankind, instead of the injurious substi- 
tutes of the poor, untutored savage, and the no less 
hurtful and unscrupulous nostrums of the charlatan, or 
mountebank, who stands on our street corners, and, 
with blatant mouth and oily tongue, discourses upon 
the so-called virtues of his wonderful medicine, beguil- 
ing thousands of people, who place confidence in his 
miserable falsehoods and poisonous quack compounds. 

The forecroino^ remarks in reo-ard to the Indians in 
the vicinity of Fort Arbuckle, Indian Territory, are not 
intended to apply to the half civilized Choctaws and 
Chickasaws, yet even these people were, at the time 
of my sojourn on their western border, many genera- 
tions behind the present in medical knowledge. Oc- 
casionally a broken-down white educated physician 
would immigrate to their country, marry a squaw, and 



AJ^MY LIFE. 



44 7 



settle down to the practice of his profession ; but, as a 
general rule, these people had to depend in sickness, 
except v/hen near a military post, on the so-called 
doctors among themselves, who know little or noth- 
ing of the true principles of medicine, and that little 
being the cast-off garments of the old-time practice of 
the regular profession, when blood-letting was con- 
sidered the sine qua 7ion in almost all diseases. 

Like Dr. Sangrado, they would draw forth the life- 
current from a patient until his pale lips and flickering 
pulse would denote imminent danger of dissolution if 
further loss of blood were permitted. This practice, 
too, they would adopt in even the lowest types of the 
disease, such as typhoid, typhus and winter fevers. 
No wonder that the mortality from these diseases was 
often fearfully great. 

At an early period of my residence in their country, 
I tried to inculcate the necessity of an entirely different 
plan of treatment in these low forms of disease, but 
without any encouraging results, except in my own 
practice, which was confined to the neighborhood of 
the garrison, where there were but few settlers of any 
kind. 

In my journal are descriptions of the modes of prac- 
tice in common use among the Indians on the coast of 
Oregon. 

For some time subsequent to their removal to the 
reservation they gave the white physicians much an- 
noyance by coming for medicine only on issue or ration 
day, and then by taking it in a most irregular and care- 
less manner. Very soon they generally refused to 
take medicine from the regularly appointed Indian j^hy- 



448 ' JOURNAL OF 

sician, and sought the professional aid of myself at 
Fort Yamhill. Although I attended to their medical 
wants a great deal, and, of course, lost a patient occa- 
sionally, they never tried to harm me in the least; but 
when one of their own doctors failed to cure his patient, 
and proved unable or unwilling to pay for him in the 
event of his decease, they often put him to death. 
This practice was, after much trouble, finally aban- 
doned, because the military authorities interfered. In 
surgical cases they bore pain with a wonderful degree 
of stoicism. 

During my sojourn at Fort Yamhill I often had oc- 
casion to dress their wounds and perform upon them 
surgical operations. In one instance I amputated the 
thigh of an intelligent Indian chief, by the name of 
Santiam Sampson. The Indian "medicine men," who 
are great humbugs and very jealous of white physi- 
cians, at first predicted his death; but after his conva- 
lescence had been firmly established, they devised a 
cunning scheme to gain a bogus reputation for them- 
selves, and at the same time make a little raise in a 
financial way. Accordingly, they informed Sampson's 
wife that her husband would surely die unless she paid 
them handsomely to "mammuck-medicine " for his 
recovery. The superstitious woman gave the scoun- 
drels all of the chief's blankets, horses and other chat- 
tels, for their promised efforts in restoring him to health 
again. The following few nights were rendered hid- 
eous by the horrid screams and yells of these mounte- 
banks, at a distance of two miles from where the sick 
man lay in hospital, unconscious of the herculean ef- 
forts that were being made by them in his behalf. At 



AJ?MV LIFE. 



449 



the termination of their incantations, Mrs. Sampson was 
informed that the evil spirit had been appeased, and 
that her husband would soon get well. Whereupon 
the affectionate woman hurried to the sick couch to 
impart the glad tidings to her spouse. She was 
amazed to find, that instead of his receiving the news 
with a heart overflowing with gratitude for the won- 
derful things that had been done for his benefit by a 
doting wife and wise medicine men, he seized a» cudgel 
and commenced to beat her most unmercifully for al- 
lowino- the Indian charlatans to deceive her. The 
hospital steward, hearing the uproar, hastened to re- 
lease the poor squaw from the clutches of her enraged 
husband. I reported the circumstance to the com- 
manding officer and Indian agent, who promptly made 
the Indian knaves restore to Sampson all his goods 
and chattels. 

The term "mammuck-medicine," as used by these 
Indians, literally signifies to make a mystery, the 
first word meaning to make, and the second anything 
that is mysterious or incomprehensible. 

The words "medicine" and "medicine man" are 
used in the northwest on both sides of the Rocky 
Mountains, the former being derived from the French 
word medecin, a physician o'r doctor. It was intro- 
duced by the French fur traders, and adopted by the 
Hudson Bay Company in the compilation of the "jar- 
gon," so universally used by the red men of the 
northwest coast. 

The term "medicine man" means a little more than 
a doctor or physician; yet the latter is a medicine 
man, because he deals more or less in mysteries and 



29 



450 JOURNAL OF 

charms in the practice of his profession. Still, among 
some of the tribes on the Pacific Coast, and in the 
northwest, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, 
there are "medicine men" who deal only in miracles 
and other mysteries, having nothing whatever to do in 
curing the sick. Anything the Indian sees that is in- 
comprehensible to him, he calls "medicine," and any 
professional person among the whites, practicing an 
art the former does not understand, is called a "medi- 
cine man." 



ARMY LIFE, 45 I 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

GARRISON SOCIETY. 

Portland, Oregon, April 15th, 1874. 

DURING my sojourn in the army, there were very 
few commissioned officers who were not educat- 
ed gentlemen. They were mostly eleves of the West 
Point Military Academy, with the exception of the 
medical staff, who, besides being graduates of respect- 
able colleges, had to stand, prior to appointment, the 
most rigid of all examinations before medical boards, 
composed of such army surgeons as possessed the 
greatest experience and acquirements in their profes- 
sion and the sciences generally. The varied experi- 
ences of the older officers in all phases of society, and 
in every part of our wide extended country, and some- 
times in foreign travel, rendered them always entertain- 
ing. Even the Brevet Second Lieutenant, fresh from 
West Point, usually possessed an inexhaustible budget 
of anecdotes of that classical institution, and of the 
many flirtations he had experienced with the fair dam- 
sel visitors, who love so well to play the coquette with 
the gallant cadet or lieutenant. Although these young 
gentlemen fall deeply in love with almost every charm- 
ing young lady whom they may chance to meet, they 
rarely come to garrison with a bride, for the plain rea- 
son, that their pay is insufficient to support a wife; 
and the girls who have rich papas do not care to ex- 



452 JOURNAL OF 

ile themselves at some distant frontier post, where they 
can only hear the fife and drum, or, at most, a brass 
band, instead of choice music at the opera. Yet, oc- 
casionally, one of these gay butterflies is caught by 
a dashing son of Mars; and, sometimes, after a few 
parting tears at the shrine of fashionable frivolities, set- 
tles down in domestic life in garrison as happily as 
though she had been to the manor born. 

Officers, however, do not commonly seek to mate 
with mere ball-room belles, but select women for their 
social, intellectual, and moral accomplishments. Hence, 
at posts near our large cities, or in the west, not too 
remote from civilization, or even on the frontier, when 
the garrisons are large, there is often to be found as 
select a society of ladies and gentlemen as at any other 
place. But, at forts in the center of the wild Indian 
country, there are few, if any, ladies to soften and 
charm the asperities of military life. 

Under such circumstances there can, of course, be 
no social hops or parties to beguile dull care; no de- 
lightful drives or rides over the beautiful prairies, or 
fishing excursions along the charming hillside streams, 
accompanied by the merry laugh of God's greatest and 
best crift to man. After one has been for a lono^ time 
thus deprived of ladies' society, he loses all power of 
just comparison of the relative charms of women, and, 
in some cases, falls in love with females altogether be- 
neath him in social position. 

When an officer thus circumstanced becomes mar- 
ried to an inferior person, as is sometimes the case, he 
commits an offence toward army society that is rarely 
forgiven; for the social code of ethics in garrison life is, 



A/?MV LIFE. 45 3 

that, as all commissioned officers and their families are 
really but one military brotherhood, no member of the 
coterie has any right to thrust upon them any uncon- 
genial companion. 

A highly accomplished young Lieutenant of my ac- 
quaintance, who was stationed at a neighboring 
post to Fort Arbuckle, fell in love with and married 
an unpolished beauty, residing at the village in his vi- 
cinity, against the protests of his most intimate friends. 
When he found that it was impossible for his bride to 
maintain her position in the society of the garrison, al- 
though the ladies were liberally disposed towards her 
on account of her husband, he finally concluded to send 
her east to receive an educational and social polish. 

The black sheep in military society are the officers 
and their families who have been promoted from the 
ranks. Their generally unrefined, uncultivated and 
uncongenial manners, make them unwelcome members 
of the army circle. If they are sensibly disposed, 
however, these little incongruities gradually wear away. 
On the other hand, should the new comers, instead of 
trying to adapt themselves to their new sphere in so- 
ciety, become churlish, they are treated by the other 
members of the garrison as intruders. Army society 
is essentially aristocratic. 

There is a sharp line of demarcation drawn between 
all commissioned and non-commissioned officers. The 
latter may associate with the men or private soldiers, 
but never with the former. The wives of the private 
soldiers and non-commissioned officers are denominat- 
ed camp-women. There is a limited number of them al- 
lowed to each company, They act as hospital and 



454 JOURNAL OF 

company laundresses. There are frequently many in- 
telligent men in the ranks. All trades and professions 
are sometimes represented. Even editors, doctors, 
and lawyers, occasionally, in a paroxysm of disgust, 
enlist in the army. Such men, being in the wrong 
element, very often cause disturbances — especially the 
members of the law — who are famous for breedino- 
misunderstandings among all with whom their lot is 
cast. Of course this remark is not applicable to the 
better class of that noble profession. Many of the 
rank and file are educated foreigners, who, being poor, 
enter the service for a livelihood until they can learn 
the English language. There being such a medley of 
characters among the private soldiers, their resources 
for diversions, when not on duty, in the way of games, 
plays, theatrical displays, parties, concerts, debating 
societies, etc., are almost inexhaustible, even at sta- 
tions far from the verge of civilization. 

The commissioned officers at these out of the way 
posts have no such varieties of amusement. When off 
duty they can ride out for pleasure, go a-hunting or 
fishing, or remain at home to read the latest news from 
the States, or some interesting book, or take a social 
game at cards — gambling being prohibited by the army 
regulations. Some commanding officers are very 
lenient about enforcing the gambling clause in the lat- 
ter. Others will permit no deviation from the letter 
of the law. Although playing for money by a few of 
the officers may have been carried on privately^ with- 
out my knowledge, at all of the posts where I have 
been stationed, yet I never saw any of it except after 
the Rouge River Indian campaign of 1856. 



ARMY LIFE. 



455 



The war being over ; the paymaster having dis- 
bursed several months' pay to the command ; there 
being no chance for the officers to get away for some 
time, owing to the non-arrival of the steamer; and the 
place insufferably dull, a few games of poker, brag and 
seven-up, were tolerated by the colonel commanding, 
who, under other circumstances, was a perfect martinet 
in discipline. My sleeping apartment being adjoining 
the room in which the so-called amusement was in full 
blast, I can testify as to its being conducted with per- 
fect decorum. The losers appeared to stand their ill 
luck with a good deal of stoicism, until the last night 
of the play, when a certain quartermaster made an on- 
slaught upon the pile, and swept the table as clean as 
though done by a new broom. He was very popular 
with the officers on his first arrival, but this brilliant 
coup d' etat seemed to lower him in their estimation. 
For on his departure to San Francisco on the steamer, 
some of them were heard to say that this gentleman 
was only a spectator of the play until he had acquired 
an insight into the peculiar method of each player, when 
his victory was necessarily easy and complete. Al- 
though sympathizing with these unfortunate gentlemen, 
I could not help thinking that their loss was a just 
punishment for dabbling in such questionable amuse- 
ment. Social games of chess and cards are probably 
oftener resorted to in garrison than in civil life, to wile 
away the time. At Old Camp, and subsequently at 
Fort Arbuckle, euchre, whist and brag were the most 
popular of these pastimes. No betting was allowed. 
In lieu of money we used circular pieces of gun wad- 
ding. The playing was generally done at the quarter- 



456 JOURNAL OF 

master's room, but on one occasion, whilst Mrs. R. B. 
Marcy was at the old camp, the officers, together with 
her husband, proposed to play a joke upon this estima- 
ble lady by pretending to gamble in earnest. The pro- 
gramme being to adjourn to the captain's quarters, 
with a shot-bag full of quartermaster's money, and com- 
mence a game of brag, with big "antes," "I double 
you," etc. Although one of the conspirators against 
her peace of mind, I could not withstand the poor wo- 
man's look of utter amazement when we beean our 
cruel joke, so I immediately turned State's evidence 
by making a full confession. Our intended joke was 
one of those thouofhtless thinofs that most men are 
sometimes led into, without thinking of the conse- 
quences. 

The use of ardent spirits, in some degree, is very 
common in the service. My temperate habits revolted 
at this feature of military life more than at any other. 
Although fond of the taste of liquor I can hardly tell 
one kind from another, and have from principle alone 
abstained from its use all my life. Neither have I ever 
smoked or chewed tobacco, or dissipated in any form. 
Consequently I have been considered by a few of my 
army comrades as unsociable. But the great majority 
of them always respected me the more for my steady 
habits, even though they once in a while took a social 
glass. 

A remarkable result of my temperate life has been 
an almost perfect freedom from sickness, from my ear- 
liest boyhood up to the present time. Notwithstand- 
ing I was the most delicate child of my father's family, 
and have been exposed to all kinds of diseases, in every 



ARMY LIFE, 



457 



variety of climate, and at places where every officer 
and private soldier of the garrison, and resident in the 
vicinity, would be stricken down several times a year 
with some form of malarial fever. 

Many persons drank in summer to prevent affections 
of the bowels ; in winter to keep from catching cold ; 
in the spring and autumn to keep off the chills ; at 
night to counteract the effects of the damp and mala- 
rial atmosphere ; and were often sick, I drank not at 
all, and, under Providence, was always at my post of 
duty. It will not do to reply that my case is excep- 
tional. The common experience of physicians, who 
are not so addicted to the use of spirituous liquors 
themselves as to render them partial and prejudiced 
observers, will attest the fact that intemperance pre- 
disposes to all kinds of sickness. This being so, mod- 
erate drinking, as it generally leads to the too free use 
of liquor, should be discarded, even though it occasion- 
ally answers a good purpose. The temporary good is 
nearly always transitory, and followed by permanent 
evil. Spirituous liquors being only a stimulant, can 
impart nothing permanent to the vital forces. Just in 
proportion to the momentary intensification of force 
that it gives to the system, must be the subsequent de- 
pression and abstraction of force from the person 
using it. 

There are a few cases in medical and surgical prac- 
tice where it is useful ; but there being an abundance 
of medical substitutes, alcohol could be easily banished 
from the pharmacopoeia without impairing in the least 
the doctor's power of controlling disease. The habit 
among a large class of the medical profession of advis- 



458 JOURNAL OF 

ing, in almost all cases, the use of liquor to their pa- 
tients in health and disease, is helping to fill the land 
with a host of intemperate men and women. If these 
gentlemen could only foresee the vast amount of 
human wretchedness that follows as the inevitable 
sequences of their actions, they would shudder at the 
fearful responsibility they are assuming. Oh, the la- 
mentable wrecks of the brightest intellects from the 
use of this bane of the human race ! 

In whatever land, city or village we go, may be 
found mournful examples of the blighting influence of 
alcohol. It fills our hospitals, almshouses and prisons, 
and costs the sober, industrious taxpayers of the coun- 
try millions upon millions of dollars. The expense is 
a trifling consideration in comparison with the misery 
that the use of alcoholic stimulants enofenders. 

In the face of these facts, it seems incomprehensible 
that Christian people should even tolerate, as a few of 
them do, the use of wine at their social gatherings. It 
is there, rather than at saloons, that our sons and 
daughters generally first learn the downward way to 
ruin. The advocates of strong drink quote the Bible 
as allowing the temperate use of wine — especially the 
recommendation of St. Paul, to take a little wine for 
his stomach's sake. But, then, the latter was some- 
what of an invalid, and there may have been, in those 
days, no proper medicinal substitute. On the other 
hand, the Proverbs say: "Wine is a mocker; strong 
drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is 
not wise." Again, "Look not upon the wine when 
it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it 
moveth itself aright; at the last it biteth like a serpent 



AJ?flfy LIFE. 



459 



and stingeth like an adder." In Leviticus the follow- 
ing injunction is given to the priesthood: "Do not drink 
wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, 
when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, 
lest ye die; it shall be a statute forever throughout 
your generations," In another place, the Bible says, 
that "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, 
nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is of- 
fended, or is made weak." If the Bible had been 
written nov/adays, when wine is associated with so 
many stronger and baser compounds, it is probable 
that its prohibitions would have been more absolute. 
Some people consider their friends unsociable if they 
decline to partake of a social glass. A gallant and 
promising young lieutenant of the army once evinced 
a great prejudice towards me because of my temper- 
ance principles. About ten years thereafter, a ragged 
man, with a red, bloated face, came into my office at 
Portland, Oregon, and asked me whether I had for- 
gotten him. After a few rrjinutes scrutiny, I recog- 
nized him as the officer alluded to above — but, oh, how 
changed! I almost wept for the unfortunate man. 
Having provided for his immediate wants, I requested 
him to call again in the morning. In the meantime, I 
learned from an officer of the army, that this poor 
wreck of his former self had obtained, during the re- 
bellion, the command of a regiment of volunteers; but, 
owing to his dissipated habits, was dismissed from the 
service. He then enlisted as a private soldier; but 
was soon court-martialed for drunkenness, after which 
he deserted. Subsequently re-enlisted and deserted 
again; that the officers of his regiment did not care to 



460 JOURNAL OF 

have him taken back, as he had become an intolerable 
nuisance. 

On learning these particulars, and ascertaining that 
he desired to seek employment as a clerk in the Quar- 
termaster's Department, in San Francisco, under an 
officer who knew him as a lieutenant, I furnished him 
with a suit of clothes, and paid his passage on the 
steamer, obtaining from him a solemn promise never 
to drink any more. I have not seen him since then; 
but have been told that he has kept his promise, and 
is now an honored professor in an eastern college. 
Examples of this nature, excepting the reformation, 
are unfortunately too common both in and out of the 
army. 

Whilst stationed at Fort Yamhill, the lamented Cap- 
tain O. H. P. Taylor, who was subsequently killed in 
Colonel Steptoe's engagement with the Indians, and 
myself, became somewhat noted total abstinence men; 
so, of course, any little joke in that line that could be 
manufactured at our expanse was in order. Accord- 
ingly, Lieutenant Bob McFeely, the reputed joker of 
the Fourth Infantry, being at a reunion of the officers 
at Fort Vancouver, and learning that one of the lieu- 
tenants present, who was known to be a great toper, 
was 671 route for Fort Yamhill to join his company, in 
a kind and confidential tone — loud enough, however, 
to be heard and duly appreciated by the whole com- 
pany — told him that he would find the officers at his 
new post very temperate men, except Captain Tay- 
lor and Doctor Glisan, who were the hardest drinkers 
on the coast. The lieutenant arrived at the post fully 
impressed with the idea, that he would soon be under 



ARMY LIIE. 461 

the necessity of placing us both under arrest for drunk- 
enness. 

The hardships and privations of mihtary men have a 
great tendency towards cultivating habits of intemper- 
ance. Many of them are shut out for months and 
years from all restraining influences of a social, moral, 
and religious character. 

The majority of the frontier posts have no chap- 
lains, so that an officer, unless very firmly rooted in 
Christian principles, forgets even the prayers taught 
him in childhood, as did a certain military gentleman, 
who, on one occasion, was strolling through a cane- 
brake, near Fort Smith, when his pathway being ob- 
structed by a log, he nimbly bounded over the same, 
and suddenly found himself face to face with a huge 
bear. Having no weapons, and fearing to budge an 
inch, he concluded to try the efficacy of prayer — like 
our modern female temperance crusaders — but, unlike 
them, he had forgotten how to pray. Luckily a peti- 
tion, taught him by his mother, came to his relief. 
So, standing bolt upright, and keeping his vigilant eyes 
piously turned towards bruin, he said: 

" Now I lay me down to sleep, 

I pray the Lord my soul to keep." 

As he lived many years thereafter, it is presumed that 
the bear did not disturb his slumbers. 

The favorite stations of young officers who disliked 
frontier duty, and were fond of fashionable society, 
were those near the large cities — as Jefferson Bar- 
racks, in the vicinity of St. Louis, Newport Barracks, 
opposite Cincinnati; and Fort McHenry, near Balti- 
more. These were famous army places, where they 



462 JOURNAL OF 

had the entree of the gayest and most fashionable cir- 
cles, and could attend parties to their hearts' content, 
and were not expected to return the compliment, 
except on rare occasions, when each officer would be 
assessed to the amount of several months' pay, to sus- 
tain the diq^nity of the army, in a grand military ball. 
All officers, but the juniors of the medical corps, could 
occasionally enjoy the luxury of society in and near 
these civilized stations. As members of this depart- 
ment did not belong permanently to any regiment or 
garrison, but were liable for duty any and everywhere 
in the army, it gradually became a custom to send 
those recently appointed to the most distant and out 
of the way posts, reserving the pleasant places for the 
older suro^eons. 

Army officers rarely have an opportunity of edu- 
cating their children, except by sending them to board- 
ing schools at a great distance, the mothers frequently 
accompanying them as their most natural protectors; 
so that the husband or father is often deprived of the 
society of his family, even when stationed at posts not 
too remote or isolated for their presence. Few per- 
sons can endure this sort of life very long; hence a 
desire and expectation among many officers to resign 
when they can save enough to start them in some civil 
employment. This day rarely comes; for, no matter 
how much an officer may save whilst economizing in the 
far off Indian country, where there is no chance to spend 
his salary, a few months' leave of absence, if a bachelor, 
or the heavy drafts on his purse by wife and children, if 
married, generally succeed in keeping him a dependent 
on Uncle Sam's rations and money until his head is 



AJ?AJV LIFE. 463 

gray. Besides, the longer an officer remains in the 
service, the more pay and rank he receives, and the 
less fitted he becomes for the drudgery of civil life. 
The love of command, which is inherent in his very 
nature, also grows stronger and stronger, and he can- 
not reconcile himself to occupy a subordinate position 
in the social world, where his hard earned title of cap- 
tain or major would be eclipsed by every tenth man to 
be met on the streets of our large cities. 

Let any person try the experiment of calling out 
"halloo, colonel!" in a loud voice in a large crowd, as- 
sembled for any purpose in our cities, and he will be 
surprised at the number of responses. Hence, military 
men of any rank in the army soon acquire a dislike and 
dread of having their modest titles overshadowed by 
the higher sounding ones of colonel and general, so 
common among the militia. 

There is another class of army officers, who care 
nothing for the comforts of home life, or of society, but 
who delight in roughing it on the frontier, far away 
from the restraints of civilization. These men are 
never so happy as when in the excitement of the chase, 
or in pursuit of a band of fleeing, horse-thieving, prairie 
Indians. Out of such material are our great Indian 
fighters made. The number of this class is very small. 
The duties of line officers are generally far more ar- 
duous than those of the staff corps, the Medical De- 
partment excepted. Officers of the Subsistence and 
Quartermaster's Departments have the easiest and most 
comfortable positions in the service. They are gener- 
ally stationed in the large cities at the headquarters of 
the various military divisions and departments. The 



464 JOURNAL OF 

duties appertaining to these departments are conducted 
at frontier stations, and other distant and isolated 
places, by a class of officers known as acting assistant 
commissaries or quartermasters, being generally lieu- 
tenants of the line, and receiving a small additional pay 
for doing staff duty. 

Our present lieutenant-general, for instance, served 
as acting assistant commissary and quartermaster at 
Fort Yamhill, in Oregon, from 1857 to 1861. Little 
did the then lieutenant dream, when on one occasion 
he confined in the guard-house of that post, an old fel- 
low by the name of Tharpe, for peddling vegetables on 
the reservation, contrary to post regulations, that he 
would so soon acquire even a much higher title than 
old Tharpe derisively gave him, of Colonel Sheridan. 
Officers belonging to the Adjutant-Generals, Judge 
Advocate's, Inspector-General's, Ordnance and Pay 
Departments, being stationed at the headquarters of 
the army, military divisions and departments, are gen- 
erally well provided for in the way of home comforts 
and opportunities of enjoying society. On the other 
hand, officers of the line and Medical Department, dur- 
ing the first half of army life, are usually stationed at 
out of the way frontier posts, and have, as before- 
stated, to depend mainly on their own resources for 
society. This is particularly the case with infantry and 
cavalry officers ; those of the artillery often occupy for- 
tifications on the sea-board, and are, consequently, 
nearer civiHzation than their brethren of the other two 
arms of the service. A certain proportion, however, 
of the officers of these three corps are detailed in regu- 
lar order on the recruiting service, and thereby have 



ARMY LIFE. 465 

an opportunity of spending a few years in the large 
cities, where the stations for enlistments commonly 
are. If a bachelor is detailed for this duty, he gener- 
ally returns to his regiment with a recruit who has not 
been required to pass the ordeal of an army regulation 
examination, by whose kind assistance he is enabled, 
in due course of time, to muster a little home infantry 
company of his own. 

A medical officer has no such opportunities, but must 
remain in single blessedness all the early years of his 
service, or choose a wife from among the few female 
visitors of the married officers' families. Young medi- 
cal officers are usually more able to support a wife than 
the juniors of the line, because they are rarely stationed 
at places, however remote from civilization, that they 
do not have more or less private practice. Jealous civil 
physicians have occasionally remonstrated against the 
army doctors practicing outside of the garrison, but 
without avail, because it is considered that the latter 
are all the more able to attend to their official duties 
by a little extra experience from outside practice, than 
though they confined their professional calls to the in- 
mates of the garrison. Besides, if this indulgence were 
not allowed, the best men in the medical corps would 
resign, rather than depend on the pay allowed them by 
the Government. Even as it is, many of the most en- 
ergetic of them throw up their commissions after a few 
years' isolation on the frontier, and try their luck in 
private life. 

A law of Congress, passed, I believe, in 1866, 
stopped all new appointments, and all promotions in 
the Medical Department of the army. The conse- 

30 



466 JOURNAL OF 

quence being that there is now a large deficiency of 
medical officers. There is no economy in this law; as 
a large number of contract physicians have to be em- 
ployed as substitutes for the regular army surgeons, to 
the detriment of the service, and the injury of one of 
the most efficient and scientific corps in the army. 

By reference to the first pages of my journal, it will 
be found how severe an ordeal the candidate for ap- 
pointment in the medical corps has to undergo ; but 
no such requirements are demanded of the contract 
doctor, who may be, and generally is, an inexperienced 
and unsuccessful physician. 

Positions in the staff departments are much sought 
after by young line officers. Not solely, however, on 
account of the social advantages designated, but be- 
cause, if only having the rank of lieutenant, they thus 
become promoted to at least a captaincy, except in the 
corps of Engineers and Ordnance Departments, where 
there are as low grades of rank as in the line. The two 
former corps are generally filled by the graduates of 
the West Point Military Academy, who stand near the 
head of the class. I believe there is not a single civil 
appointment in the corps of engineers. There is a 
vast change in this respect in the rest of the army or- 
ganization within the last few years, formerly there 
beinof few officers who were not West Pointers. 

The reason of this is that the late civil war has de- 
veloped a large number of excellent officers, who, hav- 
ing had a taste of the peculiar excitement of military 
life, are unwilling to return to the more quiet condition 
of civil pursuits. It is proper that the Government, in 
justice to these gallant men, should avail itself of their 



ARMY LIFE. 467 

services. But let not the fatal error be committed of 
appointing all such applicants, regardless of the many- 
attributes that appertain to the conscientious and in- 
telligent officer, or the mere fact of a person holding a 
comrnjssion in the regular army will no longer be a pass- 
port to the society of gentlemen, as has heretofore been 
the case. 

Although all officers of the army are presumed to be 
educated gentlemen, especially if eleves of West Point, 
yet there are five corps — the engineer, ordnance, ad- 
jutant-general, military justice and medical — that bear 
the same relation to the other corps that Boston does 
to the other large cities in the Union, in an intellectual 
and scientific point of view. 

If a young man has high military, with ultimate politi- 
cal aspirations, he had better serve in the line, although 
at first the duties are more arduous, and promotion 
slower; for renowned generals and future United States 
Presidents never come from the staff corps, no matter 
how the latter may distinguish themselves on the field 
of battle. Many of our successful and renowned gener- 
als owe much, and some of them all, of their success 
and fame, to a staff of scientific and brave subordinate 
officers. 

If a young officer is full of dash, and loves a rough, 
active life in the saddle, he should enter one of the 
cavalry regiments. For even in the so-called times of 
peace, he will find almost continued demands for his 
services on our western frontier, until the last of those 
nomads of the prairies shall have passed to their hunt- 
ing grounds beyond the setting sun. This corps was 
formerly called dragoons. About the year 1850 there 



468 JOURNAL OF 

were also several regiments of mounted riflemen and 
mounted infantry. Like all other things where too 
much is combined in one, a failure is necessarily the 
result. Our men cannot become at one and the same 
time, good infantry and effective cavalry soldiers, in 
the short period of one enlistment, for many reasons, 
one of the most important of which is the length of 
time required to teach them how to ride. The olden 
time mounted infantry used to be a laughing stock to 
their more experienced comrades of the dragoons or 
cavalry. 

Having elsewhere remarked at length upon the folly 
of our government in some of its economical parox- 
ysms, trying to make the army almost self-supporting, 
and yet requiring military impossibilities of it in the 
way of efficiency in every branch of service, I shall 
simply conclude this part of my subject by quoting the 
defence once made by an old soldier, who was on trial 
for drunkenness, that "Uncle Sam ought not to ex- 
pect all the cardinal virtues for eight dollars a month." 

Army officers in their intercourse with each other 
are punctiliously considerate and polite; and avoid, as 
much as possible, bickerings and quarrels. They rare- 
ly have feuds so serious that the interposition of mutual 
friends cannot heal. When such means fail to bring 
about a reconciliation, sometimes a court of inquiry or 
court-martial is resorted to in order to rectify the diffi- 
culty. The old practice of settling disputes by a duel 
is almost entirely abolished. 

According to the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth ar- 
ticles of war, any officer sending or accepting a chal- 
lenge to fight a duel, or any second, promoter or car- 



ARMY LIFE. 469 

rier of the same must be tried by a court-martial, and, 
if found guilty, cashiered — that is, dismissed from the 
service, and prohibited from ever holding any office or 
trust thereafter under the Government. 

Partially owing to this military law, but far more 
still to public opinion, which is becoming in most en- 
lightened communities nearly unanimously opposed to 
duelling, the practice is rarely indulged in by officers 
of the army. Still, the tendency to settle disputes in 
this way was strong up to within the last twenty years. 
No matter how firmly one might be opposed on prin- 
ciple to the practice^ he would occasionally find him- 
self forced into this senseless and brutal method of 
adjustment. 

Once I found myself almost in this sad predicament, 
and never understood precisely what happy combina- 
tion of circumstances, afforded me a relief There was 
stationed at Fort Arbuckle, at the same time I was, a 
Lieutenant H., who had been promoted from the ranks 
for gallant services during the Mexican war. He was 
very quarrelsome, especially when under the influence 
of liquor, which was, by no means, a rare occurrence. 
When intoxicated, he was the terror of the regiment, 
and of all who came in contact with him. Of course 
the commonest dictates of prudence caused officers to 
avoid wrangling with him under such circumstances. 
It became necessary to send to a great distance to pro- 
cure a little brandy for medical purposes, as the hos- 
pital supply had been exhausted. Unfortunately, the 
lieutenant heard of its arrival before anybody else, and 
drank it all up. The sick being greatly in need of 
something of the kind, I, of course, felt very much an- 



470 JOURNAL OF 

noyed, and could have preferred charges against him, 
which might have resulted in his dismissal, but con- 
cluded to take no notice of the matter, either socially 
or officially. 

Shortly after this, whilst the officers and some guests 
from Fort Smith were at the mess table, the lieutenant 
alluded to the brandy affair in such a taunting way, 
that I became very indignant, and used language which 
he deemed insulting. His first impulse seemed to be 
to hurl a coffee cup at my head; but, changing his 
mind, he abruptly left the table. When breakfast was 
over, I retired to my quarters in company with Lieu- 
tenant C, who was rooming with me. In a few min- 
utes H. appeared, and, with a stern demeanor, re- 
marked: 

" So you have dared to insult me." 

" Your conduct left me no alternative," was my reply; 
whereupon Lieutenant C. stepped forward and said: 

"Gentlemen, I place you both under arrest," and 
persuaded H. to go to his quarters, where he was 
kept until duly sober, he having been drinking a lit- 
tle. To my surprise and delight no further notice was 
taken of the matter, except that we did not speak to 
each other for some time. It was always incompre- 
hensible to me how I got out of the difficulty. It cer- 
tainly was not on account of any personal fear, or dread 
of being court-martialed, on the part of Lieutenant H., 
for a more recklessly brave man never lived. I sus- 
pect that when he sobered off, the other officers must 
have convinced him of being in the wrong, and per- 
suaded him into a generous mood. Our coolness last- 
ed about three months, when we were reconciled in 
rather a singular way. 



ARMY LIFE. 



471 



One day I had my horse side-lined, with the view of 
teaching him to pace. Whilst going around in a cir- 
cle in a corral, with his hind and fore leg connected by 
a rope on each side, a little stick, on which he tramp- 
ed, flew up, and, striking him on the belly, so alarmed 
him, that he broke out of the pen and escaped into the 
thicket. As I was about starting in pursuit. Lieuten- 
ant H, came galloping up with the runaway animal. 
Expressing my gratitude for his kindness, we made 
friends. 

Sometime subsequently he left Fort Arbuckle for 
Fort Gibson, where he had been only a little while 
when he insulted a young officer, by throwing a glass 
of liquor in his face, because he declined to drink with 
him. The other officers of the regiment advised the 
insulted officer to prefer charges against the delinquent, 
for conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, as 
the best means of "weeding " him out of the service. 
In due course of time his trial came off, and he was 
sentenced to be dismissed. On the proceedings reach- 
ing Washington for the action of the Secretary of War, 
Jefferson Davis, he failed to approve them, for the as- 
signed reason, that the conduct of Lieutenant H. was 
not, in his opinion, unbecoming an officer and a gen- 
tleman. How much lonpfer the said lieutenant re- 
mained in the army, I do not know, but understood 
that he subsequently resigned, to accept a colonelcy 
under the fillibuster. General Walker, in his attempt to 
subjugate Nicaragua. 

In the early history of the army there was a time 
when staff officers possessed only assimulative, instead 
of real, rank. This invidious distinction between the 



47- JOURNAL OF 

line and staff was found, by experience, to work a great 
hardship upon a very meritorious class of officers, and 
was having the effect of driving the best of them out 
of the service. The members of the medical corps, 
from serving more constantly with the line than any 
other staff officers, had to stand the brunt of this un- 
just discrimination. It frequently happened, that high- 
ly educated gentlemen, who had grown gray in the 
service of their country, were placed on mixed boards 
and councils in a subordinate position to young brevet 
second lieutenants. In one instance, the veteran sur- 
geon, Hammond, was a member of a court-martial, of 
which his son, fresh from West Pointy was president. 
The wonder is, that such an outrage should have been 
tolerated so long. Justice finally prevailed, by Con- 
gress giving the staff corps bona fide rank. 

On entering the service, in 1850, I found, that most 
of these vexatious questions, in regard to rank, had 
been settled. Still, there was a lingering indisposition 
on the part of line officers to recognize this compara- 
tively new order of things; although they dared not 
depart from the letter, still, where opportunity offered, 
they would evade the spirit of the law. For instance, 
in detailing the members of a court-martial, a medical 
officer was generally designated as Judge Advocate, 
who, not being considered a real member of the court, 
could not claim precedence over any other officer. As, 
however, the position of Judge Advocate, especially of 
a general court-martial, was considered a very honor- 
able, though laborious one, the doctors always yielded 
to the force of circumstance with a good grace. 

There was one Question, in regard to staff rank, that 



ARM'i LIFE. 473 

remained for a long time unsettled. It was as to 
whether a staff officer, by virtue of his rank, was en- 
titled to the command of a post, or army in the field, 
when he chanced to be the senior present on duty. 
Medical officers were very conciliatory on this point, 
and were loth to force an issue upon it. Members of 
the other staff corps felt unwilling to concede any of 
their supposed rights under the law, so, that the War 
Department was finally compelled to give a decision 
upon the subject; which, so far as it affected the medi- 
cal corps, was, that its members might claim precedence 
according to rank in the selection of quarters, on coun- 
cils of administration, boards of survey, court-martial, 
and all mixed boards, but were not entitled to the 
command of a post, or an army, except in the absence 
of all commissioned officers of the line. This ruling 
holds good up to the present day. Until this vexed 
question was settled, many methods were adopted by 
officers of the line to bring about a decision upon it. 
It is related that Captain Braxton Bragg, of " a few 
more grape" celebrity, chanced, at one time, to be the 
commanding officer and acting assistant quartermaster 
of a certain post. In order to test the question, Bragg, 
the cqramandante, ordered Bragg, the quartermaster, 
to perform a particular duty. The latter disobeying, 
the former placed him under arrest. The case was ap- 
pealed to the Secretary of War, who decided that it 
was an unnecessary difficulty between the two gentle- 
men, and added a severe reprimand. 



474 JOURNAL OF 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE SOUTHWEST AND THE NORTHWEST. 

A Comparative View of the Climate, Resources and Diseases of the Southwest, 
embracing the Indian Territory and Western Texas, and of the Northwest 
Coast, including Washington Territory and Oregon. 

Portland, Oregon, April 15th, 1874. 

As an unusual interest is being taken by many of 
our own people, as well as foreign immigrants, in the 
great Southwest, and the new Northwest, of our ex- 
tensive country, it may be worth while to summarize a 
few of the observations incidentally made whilst so- 
journing in these two sections of the United States. 
In so doing it will be necessary to restate some of the 
facts found scattered in various parts of this journal. 

Whilst each of the two districts possesses attractions 
peculiar to itself, there is hardly anything in common, 
either in topography, climate, productions or diseases. 
One is a rolling plain, with few elevations deserving 
the appellation of hills or mountains. The other pos- 
sessing some of the finest mountain scenery in the 
known world. 

The one has sluggish rivulets and rivers, that wearily 
plod their way beneath an almost tropical sun, some- 
times burrowing themselves, like the Canadian, be- 
neath their own sandy bottoms ; except at certain 
seasons, when, swollen by recent rains, or melting 
snows, from along the foothills of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, they dash madly along, overflowing their low 



AJ?MV LIFE. 475 

banks for miles on each side. The other having 
streams and noble rivers fresh from the mountains, so 
cool and pure that it would seem almost impossible for 
a country through which they take their sprightly 
courses to be otherwise than healthful. 

Summer in the southwest is characterized by a hot, 
enervating atmosphere, that creates an indisposition to 
mental or physical labor. 

That portion of the northwest coast west of the Cas- 
cade range of mountains, has at this season a dry and 
refreshingly cool atmosphere, the temperature lower- 
ing as the Pacific Ocean is approached. 

The balmy zephyrs of the first are laden in the 
spring and autumn with malaria, that manifests its de- 
leterious influence upon the human system in various 
forms of fevers. The refreshing winds of the second 
come from the ocean, as pure as the mountain streams 
which they meet and embrace. Even east of the Cas- 
cade Range, where the temperature is much warmer 
in summer than it is west of the same, the air is so dry 
in summer that few suffer from the heat. There is no 
sultry weather on the northwest coast. 

The winters in the southwest are generally mild and 
pleasant, with an occasional snow storm in the Indian 
Territory and northern portion of Texas. The same 
season' in Oregon and Washington is as diversified as 
possible. Immediately along the coast the tempera- 
ture is rarely below the freezing point — the rains are 
heavy and frequent. On the Coast Mountains there 
is deep snow. In the Willamette, Umpqua and Rogue 
River Valleys, between the coast and Cascade Range 
of mountains, there is much rain, with occasional snow 



476 JOURNAL OF 

Storms, the snow melting as fast as it falls, excepting 
on rare occasions, when it becomes so deep that the 
farmers, who rarely provide much provender for their 
stock, are utterly astonished, and sometimes ruined by 
the loss of their animals. A few such examples during 
the last twenty-three }^ears, have at last made this in- 
dustrious, but heretofore somewhat shiftless, class of 
the Oregon population aware that it is true economy 
to lay up a supply of straw, hay, oats and corn, and 
build shelters for their cattle, sheep and horses, even 
though it might not be needed for several successive 
years. 

The Cascade Range is, of course, whitened with 
snow for six months in the year ; and its lofty peaks, 
like the Three Sisters, Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, 
Mount Baker, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helen and 
Mount Ranier, are draped in perpetual white. 'Tis a 
most refreshing sight to stand on some elevated point 
in the Willamette Valley, on a warm summer day, 
and gaze upon these lovely mountains, hoary with the 
frosts of so many years. There they have stood for 
centuries, watching the progress of civilization, as west- 
ward it marched alonor until its vanofuard has reached 
the utmost western limits of the American Continent. 
Oh, how many bloody struggles they have witnessed 
between the red men of the forest and the white men 
of the east — yea, and of internecine war among the In- 
dians themselves. 

Mount Hood looms up in rugged, awful grandeur, 
whilst his bride (Mount St. Helen), stands serenely 
above the fringe of evergreens, symmetrical and lovely 
as on the day she plighted her love. Why they are 



AJ?A/V LIFE. 



477 



SO cool toward each other, no one has ever dared to 
inquire. Their quarrel must have been fearfully unre- 
lenting, as the Three Sisters, who were bridesmaids, 
have never been able to effect a reconciliation; neither 
have the more austere groomsmen, Mounts Jefferson, 
Adams and Ranier. 

It is only within a few years that the latter mount- 
ain, of Washington Territory, has been recognized as 
higher than the niajestic Mount Hood, of Oregon, and 
the sublime Mount Shasta, of California, its height 
being fourteen thousand four hundred and forty-four 
feet. Only a glimpse of this magnificent mountain 
can be had from the usual courses of travel in the Wil- 
lamette Valley, and along the Columbia River, as its 
view is partially obstructed by St. Helen. Yet now, 
that we have a railroad to the Sound^ tourists will 
have no excuse hereafter in slighting this sublime 
wonder of the natural world. 

The day is not distant when Ranier and Hood will 
be selected as national signal stations, from whose lofty 
summits signal officers will be able to scan the broad 
Pacific on the west, and note the approach of foreign 
enemies, or observe the condition of the thousands 
upon thousands of vessels belonging to the merchant 
marine and the navy of all nations of the civilized 
globe, passing hither and thither, to and from the great 
seaports now springing up on this favored coast ; and 
of watching on the east, north and south, the long rail- 
road trains as they skim over the surface of this conti- 
nent. Or grander still, they will be great entrepots, 
as well as points of observation, for the future im- 
proved methods of travel and commercial intercourse, 



478 JOURNAL OF 

in the way of aerial cars and ships, saihng aloft in mid- 
air, instead of on the earth or water. 

Do not laugh, incredulous reader; remember that 
even more wonderful things than these have been ac- 
complished within the last hundred years. The great 
inventors and discoverers have been mocked and de- 
rided as fools and idiots until their wonderful achieve- 
ments have astounded the unbelieving world. We 
are so accustomed to these gigantic results of science, 
that they, even now, seem trite and commonplace. 
Yet, many of us, like our ancestors, think that the 
world is so wise; that there is no room for further 
knowledge or wisdom, and are slow to believe what 
pigmies our present great scholars, philosophers and 
scientific men will appear to be to their successors a 
few centuries hence. 

Returning from our ethereal wanderings, we will 
make a few more allusions to our noble mountain 
peaks. Some of these are still living volcanoes, the 
most active being Mount Baker, in the northern por- 
tion of Washington Territory. Owing to the numer- 
ous and ever- varying shapes of the clouds that rest oc- 
casionally on the top of Mount Hood — like our future 
aerial cars will doubtless do — the inexperienced ob- 
server is too apt to report a violent state of eruption 
where there is none. Still, all persons who have as- 
cended to the summit agree that sulphurous vapors are 
occasionally belched forth, to a slight extent, from an 
almost extinct crater, not far from the top. This is 
also true of Mount Rainier, and some, if not all, of the 
other peaks. There is no such mountain scenery, as 
that just alluded to, in the southwest. 






ARMY LIFE. 479 

The rolling prairies there are beautiful to behold for 
the first time, especially in the spring and early sum- 
mer months; but beauty, when monotonous, palls upon 
the siorht — as do certain articles of food and drink when 
partaken of too often. In fact, any and everything 
lose their charms if forced upon the attention continu- 
ously — "variety is the spice of life," is as true in land- 
scapes and climates as in anything else. I well re- 
member my feelings of intense delight on seeing the 
boundless western prairies for the first time — it seem- 
ed as though they must be the most pleasant spot on 
God's earth for the habitations of his people. A few 
days of weary travel over them, beneath a scorching 
sun, cooled my admiration in a wonderful degree, if so 
paradoxical an expression may be allowed. A few 
years' residence taught me to exclaim with the poet : 

" E'n were Paradise a prison, 
Still I should long to leap the crystal walls." 

Man's nature is such that variety is one of his im- 
perative wants. This variety, so far as scenery and cli- 
mate are concerned, can be found on the northwest coast 
to a greater extent than in almost any other country 
in the world. It is true that her forests are forever 
green, and, lack to some degree, the variegated love- 
liness of the beautiful woods and groves ot deciduous 
trees of many of the Atlantic States, yet she has many 
kinds of charming trees and shrubs besides those be- 
longing to the genzLS pinus. The southwest is, in this 
respect, far behind the northwest coast, as it is almost 
devoid of timber, except along the water courses. 
The forests of Oregon are mostly distributed upon its 
mountain ranges and the margins of its streams. Thus 



480 JOURNAL OF 

the Coast Range, extending nearly north and south 
through the entire length of the State, and having an 
average breadth of twenty miles, is covered with ever- 
green forests of cedar, spruce, fir, sugar pine, hemlock, 
Oregon yew, intermixed at places with white maple, 
vine maple, Oregon alder, balsam tree, rhododendron, 
wild cherry, crab-apple; and, along the streams, cot- 
tonwood, and a kind of willow, known botanically as 
salix scouleriana, also the Oregon ash (fraximus 
Oregoiia). 

The Cascade Range of Mountains, extending through 
the whole length of Washington Territory and Ore- 
gon, parallel with the Coast Range, and distant from 
it about forty-five miles, is also covered with similar 
forests. The valley land in Oregon, lying between 
these two ranges of mountains, possesses a few groves 
of a kind of oak {qtierczcs garryand) growing about 
fifty-five feet high, and a more diminutive scrub oak 
[querctis kellogia). A beautiful evergreen called lau- 
rel {arbutus menziesii) is also found in many places. 
As a counterpart to these magnificent forests, what do 
we find in the southwest? A few cotton-woods along 
the bottoms of the larger rivers ; and overcup, pecan, 
sycamore, persimmon, black ash, blackberried alder 
and red elm, along the tributary streams, which have 
bottoms of greater elevation than the main rivers. On 
the plateaux and more elevated grounds, an occasional 
grove of post oak, pin oak, red oak, scrub oak, black- 
jack, hackberry and mesquite. In some sections no 
timber larofer than the last-named shrub can be found. 

There is such a thing as having either too little or 
too much timber in a country. The southwest cer- 



ARMY LIFE, 48 I 

tainly has a deficiency, and probably Washington Ter- 
ritory has a superabundance ; but Oregon has the 
happy medium of just enough. 

Many of the early settlers in Oregon, who hailed 
from the prairie country of IlHnois and Iowa, where 
timber was exceedingly scarce, concluded to locate in 
the very midst of the Oregon forests, where it cost 
them about one hundred dollars per acre to clear and 
grub their land ; whereas, their more sensible fellow- 
immigrants took up claims in the beautiful Willamette 
Valley, where the land is mostly prairie, with just 
enough of timber for firewood and fencing. The for- 
mer have struggled along in comparative poverty, 
whilst the latter ought to be rich, if they are not, with 
all the advantages they have had for making money, 
in the finest agricultural valley in the United States. 
There is no other country known where the crops of 
cereals are so abundant and so unfailing. 

This charming valley lies in what I shall call the 
second of the three topographical and climatographical 
divisions of Oregon, being separated from the first or 
coast district, by the Coast range of mountains ; and 
from the third, or Eastern Oregon section, by the Cas- 
cade range — these mountains running parallel to each 
other in a northerly and southerly direction, through 
the entire length of the State, the Coast range being 
about four thousand, and the Cascade range about 
seven thousand feet hiorh. The length of the Willam- 
ette Valley, north and south, is about one hundred and 
forty miles, and its width, east and west, is forty- 
five miles. It is characterized by a mild, uniform and 
healthy climate, a rich and exceedingly productive soil. 

31 



482 JOURNAL OF 

The northwest winds from the Pacific, with their cool- 
ing yet congenial influence, move gently over its sur- 
face during the summer season, making work in the 
open air a delightful exercise, yet not chilling the 
growing crops ; whilst the warm southwest and south- 
ern winds of winter keep the atmosphere mild and 
pleasant. The Cascade range also helps to protect 
the valley from frost and snow. The latter, however, 
falls to a considerable depth occasionally. 

New comers and tourists complain of our cloudy, 
rainy winters — Californians especially. But whilst our 
sister State suffers from drouQfhts and floods alter-' 
nately, five years out of every ten, the efforts of the 
agriculturist being thus paralyzed, Oregon has in win- 
ter her few months of rain along her valleys, and of 
snow in the mountains, to furnish a bountiful supply of 
water for her farmers and miners in the ensuing sum- 
mer ; with just enough of rain in spring and summer 
for the growth of her productions. But during har- 
vest time the weather is dry and pleasantly warm, so 
that the cutting of hay and grain is a pleasant pastime, 
instead of irksome toil beneath a broiling sun. Owing 
to the dry weather, there is rarely any need of hurry 
about gathering the ripened grain, or of putting it in 
stacks, ricks or barns, to await a fitting opportunity of 
having it threshed. 

If a farmer is not able, or does not wish, to avail 
himself of any of the new methods of cutting and 
threshing his crop in the field, he can let it stand in the 
shock until an opportunity offers of securing it. He 
may sow his wheat in June and pasture it down in the 
fall, or put it in during the latter season, or wait till 



ARMY LIFE. 483 

spring, and always be sure of a good yield. Or he 
can harvest a cultivated crop of oats and wheat one 
year, and depend on what is called a volunteer crop 
the succeeding year — that is, a crop springing up from 
the wasted seed in gathering the grain, without either 
plowing or harrowing. This was a common method 
of farmers when I first came to the country, nineteen 
years ago. The present farmers, however, find it ad- 
vantageous to till the soil, as they thus secure a suffi- 
ciently better yield over the volunteer crop to repay 
them for the extra labor. Besides, they may be a little 
conscientious about reaping the fruits of the earth ex- 
cept by the sweat of the brow. The early settlers had 
no religious scruples of this kind. They would hardly 
take the trouble of fencing in their claims, further than 
to protect their gardens and fine young orchards ; not- 
withstanding their neighbors' cattle, as well as their 
own, roamed wheresoever they listed over the prairies, 
which were clothed with the finest of wild grass and 
white clover — knowing that where cattle were allowed 
to select their own food, they would naturally browse 
on the sweetest and the best, and, per consequence, 
would eschew the oats and wheat, and luxuriate on the 
sweet grass that nature had spread before them. But 
when the wild grass became stunted by constant and 
excessive pasturage, and the stock range contracted by 
encroaching settlements, fencing became a necessity ; 
so that at present, the greater portions of the claims are 
partially, and many entirely, surrounded by fences. 

The soil of this valley consists of a sandy loam, rest- 
ing upon a bed of clay, and covered with a thick vege- 
table mold. It is watered and drained by many mount- 



484 JOURNAL OF 

ain streams of the purest water. Running through 
the center, from south to north, for its entire length, 
is the beautiful Willamette River, from which the val- 
ley takes its name. This stream empties into the 
noble Columbia, which forms the northern boundary of 
the State. The former is fed by numerous tributaries, 
rising on either side, the larger of which have their 
sources in two ranges of mountains, running parallel 
with, and forming the western and eastern boundaries 
of the valley. 

The Willamette is navigable, for small steamboats, 
as far up as Eugene, a distance of one hundred and 
thirty-five miles from its mouth. One of its principal 
branches, the Yamhill^ is navigable as far as McMinn- 
ville, a distance of twelve miles from where it enters 
the main stream. The valley has now two railroads — 
the Oregon and California, on the east side of the 
"Willamette River, extending a distance of over two 
hundred miles; the Oregon Central, on the west side, 
being completed as far as St. Joseph, on the Yamhill 
River. These roads will ultimately join at Junction 
City, near the center of the valley, and the main road 
continue on from its present terminus to California, 
with, perhaps, a branch shooting off near Eugene, in a 
southeasterly course, to form a junction with the Union 
Pacific. Other railroads are also in contemplation. 
The effect of these internal improvements has been to 
stimulate all branches of industry in the State, and es- 
pecially agriculture. Owing to this stimulus, and a 
more than usually favorable season, the productions of 
the valley during the year 1873 were increased many 
fold over previous years. The wheat crop alone re- 



ARMY LIFE. 485 

quired several hundred ships for its exportation. There 
were lying at one time in the harbor of Portland, the 
metropoHs of Oregon, about twenty of these vessels, 
taking in cargoes of grain for foreign markets. 

It has lately been acknowledged by all of the best 
judges, that the quality of the Willamette Valley wheat 
is equal, if not superior, to any in the known world. 
The good prices brought in the fall of 1873 and winter 
of 1874 gladdened the hearts and filled the pockets of 
the farmers, so that they felt not the effects of the 
money panic in the rest of the Union, and in Europe. 
This grain is the staple production of the Willamette 
Valley. Under proper cultivation, its yield to the acre 
is as high as sixty bushels; though the average crop, 
under the ordinary careless way of raising it, is, per- 
haps, not over thirty bushels to the acre. 

The Willamette Valley contains about seven mil- 
lion acres of farming land, not more than one quarter 
of which is under cultivation. It is true that nearly all 
of the best lands are claimed or settled upon; yet, the 
farms are so large, that they are unmanageable by 
most of the owners, who could readily part with one 
half, and be the better off for so doing, as they might 
then properly take care of the remainder. Many of 
the claimants hold their lands under the donation act 
of Congress of 1850, which gave to every white man, 
half-breed Indians included, above the age of eighteen, 
who was a citizen of the United States, or made decla- 
ration of becoming such before a specified time, then 
resident of the Territory, or who became a resident 
prior to December ist, 1850, three hundred and twen- 
ty acres, if a single man, and six hundred and forty 



486 JOURNAL OF 

acres, if married, or he became married within a year 
after the passage of said act — one half to himself and 
the other half to his wife — provided he occupied the 
claim four consecutive years, and otherwise complied 
with the terms of the act. Under the same conditions 
and restrictions, three hundred and twenty acres were 
given to such male persons described above as became 
residents between December ist, 1850, and December 
ist, 1853, who were married (one half to husband and 
the other to wife,) and half that quantity to every 
single man or head of a family, including widows. 
The effect of this law was not only to stimulate immi- 
gration, but marriages; for, in order to secure the large 
amount of land, many men married girls not over four- 
teen years of age. These hasty matrimonial alliances 
were often followed by evil results — not the least of 
which were divorces. 

The early settlers had wonderful opportunities for 
making money, as they could raise cattle, grain, fruits 
and vegetables with far less labor than in any other 
part of the United States, and find a ready market at 
their very doors, from purchasers fresh from the rich 
gold fields of California. A few years later, the gold 
mines of British Columbia, Washington Territory^ and 
Oregon, and still more recently of Montana, together 
with the rich gold and silver mines of Idaho Territory, 
furnished a constant and excellent demand for the same. 
These extraordinary advantages of making money by 
our farming population, instead of urging them into 
unusual activity, had generally the reverse effect; as 
the money came easy, it was a part of their doctrine to 
let it go freely. Many of them, too, would abandon 



ARMY LIFE. 487 

their farms for the more ghttering, yet far less certain, 
chances of wealth in the mines. Unfortunately, too, 
these mining excitements would generally occur in that 
part of the spring and summer when their crops de- 
manded the most attention. Many a man with the 
".gold fever" would rush off from home, with no one 
left behind to take care of his claim but his wife — if he 
had one — if not, the place was left to itself. Generally 
the owner would return in the winter, worse off than 
when he departed, and vowing that nothing would ever 
induce him to be so foolish again; but, like the unfor- 
tunate drunkard, his solemn resolutions of reformation 
were as often broken as made. 

A few shrewd farmers and traders throughout the 
valley have often enriched themselves by purchasing 
stock and farming products at an enormous sacrifice 
from these unfortunate mortals, who would be always 
oil the jump for the latest gold excitement, and would 
sell out any and everything in a hurry in order to se- 
cure an outfit. After the farmers began to learn, from 
sad experience, the uncertainty of mines, and that the 
best gold diggings to them lay in the tillage of their 
own farms, they remained at home, but, for a long 
time, exercised little judgment in the matter of rotation 
of crops, and of producing such things in the greatest 
abundance as would likely bring the best prices, the 
latter being very fluctuating. The rule adopted by the 
majority was to raise the succeeding year in the largest 
quantity that which brought the most remunerative 
prices the year previous, the consequence being, that 
the market was frequently glutted by almost every 
product in its turn. For example, if wheat was in great 



488 JOURNAL OF 

demand one season, then almost every one would sow 
it, to the exclusion of nearly everything else, and, per- 
haps, overstock the market. This article falling in 
price, and oats becoming high, then everybody must 
sow a large quantity of oats, which falling in price, and 
wheat coming in great demand again, a large crop of 
this grain would be cultivated, and so on. The same 
system was adopted in regard to beef cattle, sheep and 
hogs. If bacon happened to bring a high price for one 
or two years, nearly every farmer would stock his place 
with hogs. 

Mainly owing to this false system of farming and 
stock-raising, hogs became so abundant one year in 
the early days of Oregon that they had to be shot by 
the hundreds as a nuisance, there being no sale what- 
ever for them. Because the climate was so mild that 
stock could generally subsist on the wild grass the year 
round, the farmers would either not produce much prov- 
ender, or if raised sell it nearly all off, and even burn 
up their wheat and oat straw. So that when a hard 
winter came, which was sure to be the case every now 
and then^ the poor animals would starve by the thou- 
sands. This careless system of farming has nearly 
died out, being replaced by more skill, judgment, en- 
ergy and science. Scientific farming, and raising of 
choice breeds of stock, are fast comino- into voeue. 
No finer varieties of sheep, cattle, chickens and horses 
are seen in the United States than can be found on 
the two extensive farms of S. G. Reed and others, a 
few miles up the valley. 

As further evidence of the late stimulus given to ag- 
ricultural pursuits in Oregon, it is only necesary to 



JJ?MV LIFE. 489 

State that one of our most enterprising pioneers, R. R. 
Thompson, has lately introduced on his splendid farm 
of three thousand two hundred acres, situated in the 
county of Yamhill, a steam plow, imported from En- 
gland at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. It works 
with perfect success. It is an immense implement in 
power and size. The two engines that run it weigh 
ten tons each. One of these is located at each end of 
the field, and works the plow by means of an attached 
wire cable. As fast as a furrow is finished, each en- 
gine in its turn is moved so as to let the plow enter 
fresh soil. There are two gangs of plows, each capa- 
ble of making five furrows. One of them is placed at 
each end of the field. While one is working the other 
is raised. The alternation of this action at the end of 
each furrow prevents the necessity of reversing the im- 
plement. Only three men are required — one at each 
engine and one at the plow, which does an average 
work of fifteen acres per day. 

The present race of agriculturists possess an advan- 
tage over the old race of pioneers, in having a more 
regular demand for their products, and far better facili- 
ties of transportation, and they can depend with greater 
certainty on having help when needed, to cultivate and 
harvest their crops. 

After the first flush times, extending from 1850 to 
about 1858, the farmer could not always depend on 
good prices for his crop or stock, no matter what judg- 
ment he may have used in its production. Neither 
could he always get help, at any reasonable rate, to 
save his crop. Thus, prices being uncertain, labor 
scarce, and rarely to be depended upon, and trans- 



490 JOURNAL OF 

portation to the nearest market in wagons, slow, 
tedious and expensive, there is no wonder that he fre- 
quently became discouraged, and made but little effort 
to better his condition. The era of moderate trans- 
portation, reasonable prices for help, and a more steady- 
market, has changed all of these things for the better. 
So, in our parting remarks of the pioneer farmers of 
Oregon, let us make due allowances for the difficulties 
under which they labored, and pay a passing tribute 
to their good common sense, rare honesty and gener- 
ous hospitality. 

The wonderful productions of the Willamette Valley 
is not confined to the cereals and grasses, but extends 
to all of the common varieties of fruits and vegetables. 
Apple, pear, plum and cherry trees begin to bear ear- 
lier here than in any other country, except California, 
and produce most luxuriantly. Gooseberries, straw- 
berries, blackberries, raspberries and currants, both 
wild and cultivated, are abundant, large and delicious. 

The early settlers of Oregon were particularly for- 
tunate in having a fine horticultural garden, established 
by a Mr. Lewellen, from which to select the choicest 
varieties of fruit trees, shrubbery and garden seeds. 
Orchards of select fruit trees have for the last eighteen 
years been a characteristic feature of the Willamette 
Valley. The most remarkable thing in regard to the 
fruit trees of Oregon is the early age at which they 
begin to bear. Apple and cherry trees will commence 
bearing at the age of three years — other trees in a pro- 
portionately short period. They soon exhaust them- 
selves unless kept closely pruned, and much of their 
fruit picked off when very small and green. Fruit- 



AJ^AIY LIFE. 



491 



raising has made the fortunes of a great many persons 
throuorhoiit the State. And althouorh the time has 
gone by when apples, pears and plums would sell for 
twelve dollars a bushel, as was the case in the palmy 
days of the California gold mine excitement, yet the 
orchardist can still make money by shipping his fruit 
to San Francisco and the markets, where it will bring 
from fifty cents to a dollar per bushel. The Oregon 
apples are highly prized in foreign markets. Peaches 
and grapes do not thrive so well in the Willamette 
Valley as in the more southern part of the State. 

Like all the rest of the northwest coast, the Willa- 
mette Valley is rich in iron, copper, lead, coal, silver, 
and gold. The last two metals have not been found 
in such abundance as on the eastern side of the Cas- 
cade range ; but the more common, and, probably, 
the more useful mineral, iron ore, constitutes a large 
portion of the hills and mountain spurs lying adjacent 
to river navigation, as well as near the natural routes 
of railroads. Close to these immense reservoirs of 
iron ore, coal has been discovered in inexhaustible 
quantities; so that furnaces, rolling mills and found- 
ries will, in the course of a few years, make the valley 
resound with the busy hum of thousands of industrious 
mechanics and artisans. There is already one large 
furnace at Milwaukee, near Portland, and quite a num- 
ber of foundries in the latter city. 

Having described the Second District, we shall next 
take a glimpse at the First, or Coast District, which is 
a narrow strip of land, from half a mile to eight miles 
in width, sufficiently level for grazing or farming pur- 
poses. It is equally divided between timber and prai- 



492 JOURNAL OF 

rie lands. The soil beingr generally rich, especially in 
some of the river bottoms. Fine grass, potatoes, cab- 
bage, and a few similar products can be raised there; 
but most of the ordinary vegetables, fruits and cereals 
do not thrive well, because of the coolness of the sum- 
mers and moisture of the atmosphere. The climate is 
remarkably uniform, there being but little difference 
between the seasons. 

Having said a good deal about this district in my 
journal, I shall add but little here. Its uniform cli- 
mate, invigorating sea air, and freedom from miasma, 
render it the most healthful part of Oregon. It is the 
fashionable summer resort of persons living in the Wil- 
lamette Valley, particularly of the citizens of Portland. 
Alsea Bay, Yaquina Bay, mouth of Salmon River, 
Tillamook Bay, and Clatsop Beach, being the most ac- 
cessible and favorite points. Although the Coast Dis- 
trict is in itself very narrow, yet there are numerous fer- 
tile valleys leading into the mountains along the streams 
that run across the coast belt into the Pacific Ocean. 
The soil and climate in these little valleys render them 
better adapted for agricultural purposes than the land 
immediately along the coast. Yet the numerous cosy 
little prairies found in the valleys afford greater advan- 
tages for the dairy business than for any other pur- 
suit. The sands of the sea shore almost glitter with 
gold dust. The mountain spurs, jutting out close to 
the ocean, are filled with copper, iron and coal. The 
hills and valleys are covered with the finest fir and ce- 
dar for lumber to be found anywhere in the United 
States. The inlets and bays abound in oysters and 
salmon, and the mountain streams with speckled trout. 



ARMY LIFE. 



493 



Some of the rivers and bays are navigable for a class 
of small vessels. There is an abundance of game 
along the coast, such as canvas-back duck, mallard 
duck, blue- winged teal, green- winged teal, brown crane, 
kildeer, plover, snipe, black brant, Canada goose, white- 
fronted goose, blue grouse, quail, partridge or Vir- 
ginia pheasant, black tail and white tail deer, elk, brown 
and cinnamon bears. 

It is much cooler in summer and warmer in winter 
in the whole of the northwest coast, lying west of the 
Cascade range of mountains, than in corresponding 
parts near the Atlantic seaboard. This is owing main- 
ly to the facts that the prevailing winds of summer are 
from the northwest, and in winter from the south, 
southwest and southeast, and that the peculiar direc- 
tion of the coast line, running from the southeast to 
the northwest, allows the almost uniform atmosphere 
of the ocean to be thus carried over the whole district, 
especially in winter. The cooler northwest breeze from 
the ocean cooling the otherwise warm temperature in 
summer, and the warmer southerly oceanic winds of 
winter rendering the otherwise cool atmosphere pleas- 
antly mild. Another reason being that a warm cur-, 
rent setting across from Japan, and dashing against 
this northwest coast, makes the water of the Pacific 
Ocean, and secondarily its atmosphere, of a much 
milder temperature in winter than that of the Atlantic 
in the same latitude. The nearness of the Cascade 
range of mountains also has its influence, by penning 
up, as it were, the balmy breath of the Pacific, and at 
the same time protecting the region in a measure from 
the cold blasts of the northeast. 



494 JOURNAL OF 



Whilst, owing to the intervening Coast range of 
mountains, the cHmate of the Willamette Valley is not 
modified so much by the sea breezes as the first topo- 
graphical district, yet it receives much more of them 
than the third region, east of the Cascade range. This 
is partly owing to the greater distance of the latter 
section from the ocean, but also to the latter chain of 
mountains beingr hicrher than the former. As the hu- 
mid atmosphere from the ocean strikes the Coast 
range, the most of the moisture must be precipitated 
in the form of rain or snow; still, a large portion of the 
humidity finds its way over and through the gaps of 
this barrier and falls in mist or rain in the Willamette 
Valle}^ The Cascade mountains, however, are so 
high as to intercept the sea fogs almost entirely. 

These facts account for the greater uniformity of the 
temperature and larger rainfall, in the first than in the 
second, and in the second than in the third, topo- 
graphical district. The latter district, embracing the 
whole of Eastern Oregon, is so diversified in topo- 
graphical and climatological features, as to render a 
comprehensive description of the same utterly impos- 
sible in this brief summary. We must content our- 
selves, therefore, with a few general remarks upon the 
subject. 

This region is bounded on the west by the Cascade 
mountains ; on the north partly by the main Colum- 
bia, and in part by Snake River, or the Lewis Fork of 
the Columbia River ; on the east mainly by Snake 
River; on the south by Nevada and California — em- 
bracing an area of fifty-eight thousand square miles ; 
consisting of immense plateaux of varying degrees of 



ARMY LIFE, 495 

altitude, divided up by numerous mountain spurs, jut- 
ting out mostly from the Blue mountains, which run 
through the district from the northeast to the south- 
west. Although some of the streams are frino-ed with 
willow and cotton-wood, there is but little timber in 
this section, except on the tops of the high ridges of 
the mountains, where may be found cedar, larch, fir, 
spruce and pine. 

The finest agricultural lands lie in the small valleys, 
and bottoms of the streams having their spring-heads 
in the mountains. The soil near the base of the latter 
is sandy and argillaceous ; that of the low river bot- 
toms, alluvial and very productive. The highlands 
have an ashen soil, intermixed more or less with alka- 
line earths and a clayey loam. All of these soils, how- 
ever, will produce most of the cereals, vegetables and 
fruits common to a temperate zone. 

This entire district is well watered by numerous 
mountain streams, which, however, run too deep in 
the ground to be generally available for irrigation ; 
hence, as the spring and summer seasons are usually 
dry, the crops of the highlands often suffer from the 
drought. The wild grass on the high grounds grows 
in spots and bunches, and is called bunch-grass. It is 
very nutritious, and much sought after by stock, even 
when dry and covered with snow. 

Whilst Eastern Oregon has much land that may be 
designated as valleys, and more still that would prop- 
erly come under the designation of high, rolling prai- 
rie, there is a very great proportion of waste country 
in the western and central regions that is strictly vol- 
canic. In its southern portion are many salt and fresh 



496 JOURNAL OF 

water lakes, the former having no apparent outlets, al- 
though receiving the supplies of considerable streams. 
Some of these picturesque bodies of water will com- 
pare favorably with the world-renowned Lakes of Kil- 
larney, in Ireland, and the Highland Lakes, of Scot- 
land. One of them is called "Sunken Lake," because 
its surface is about eight hundred feet below the sur- 
rounding ground. Its perpendicular banks furnish only 
one place where the curious can descend to the en- 
closed fathomless limpid reservoir below. This lake 
region of Eastern Oregon has much good grazing and 
farming land, and is tolerably well watered. It has 
lately been the scene of one of the most remarkable 
struggles in the history of the world. When, in due 
course of time, it shall have been rendered accessible 
to tourists, by railroads, the lava beds of the Modoc 
war will attract much attention. 

. The diversity in altitude alone of the various little 
valleys in Eastern Oregon render a great difference in 
climate, independent of the latitude, which, of course, 
has its modifying influences. In many of these pleas- 
ant retreats, stock can be wintered upon the wild grass, 
without any other food. Yet, experience dictates to 
the stock raisers the necessity of always keeping a 
supply of provender on hand, and good shelter, for the 
winters are capricious, and sometimes fearfully cold, 
with snow so deep, that both man and beast must perish, 
if unprotected. During our early mining excitements, it 
was very common for the newspapers of the day to 
contain accounts of the loss of whole herds of horses, 
sheep and cattle, which had been driven into this 
country to winter, on account of the shortness of grass 



ARMY LIFE. 



497 



in the milder Willamette Valley, and because of the 
proximity of the mining country. But this was not 
the worst. Many weary miners, expressmen and traders 
would occasionally get blockaded by deep snows on 
the Blue Mountains, and even on the moderate mount- 
ain spurs and elevated prairies, so as to be cut off 
for months from all communication with civilization. 
Sometimes, too, fearful snow storms would fall upon 
them unexpectedly, whilst journeying in these elevated 
regions, freezing them to death. 

By glancing at the annexed meterological table, and 
comparing the observations of Forts Dalles and Walla 
Walla — the climatic representations of Eastern Ore- 
gon — with Portland and Fort Yamhill, of the Willam- 
ette Valley, or of Fort Orford and Astoria, of the 
Oregon coast, it will be seen that the Third District 
has a much more variable climate than either of the 
others. Its extremes of temperature are very great. 
The summers are warm, and the winters, though gen- 
erally only moderately cold, are sometimes as rigorous 
as in our New England States. It will, also, be seen 
that the rainfall, including the melted snow, is infinitely 
less than on the coast, and nothing like as great as in 
the Willamette Valley. In short, the climate is so en- 
tirely different from that west of the Cascade range 
of mountains, that those persons who are delighted 
with it cannot be contented in the " webfoot" country^ 
as the Willamette Valley is derisively called, because 
of its frequent rains in winter. 

Eastern Oregon people boast of their clear skies, of 
their warm summer weather, and dry snows of win- 
ter, and, although unable to produce as much wheat to 



498 JOURNAL OF 

the acre as is raised in the Willamette Valley, they 
can furnish the market with larger melons, more de- 
licious peaches, etc. Her gold mines, too, are more 
extensive and much richer, thus making her essentially 
a mininor reg-ion. The force of the winds is much 
greater here than in the Willamette Valley. This is 
particularly the case in the vicinity of the Dalles, where 
they drive the sand in fearful currents over the country, 
rendering travel, at times, anything but agreeable. All 
railways that may run through this section will have to 
be protected, at points, by sheds, to keep the sand 
from obstructing the trains. 

Whilst these strong winds are very unpleasant near 
the Dalles, they are considered, in their milder form, 
quite agreeable to the settlers in the Walla Walla and 
kindred valleys. This is especially the case in the 
spring and autumn, when the prevailing winds from 
the south, southwest and southeast are quite balmy, 
and accompanied with sufficient showers to lay the 
dust, which is decidedly too omnipresent in summer. 

Much more could be said of this topographical divis- 
ion of Oregon, as well as of the rest of the State, but 
the growing length of this chapter warns me to hasten 
on for a slight glimpse of the northern portion of the 
northwest — Washington Territory. 

The latter is naturally divided by the Cascade range 
of mountains into two districts, entirely different from 
each other in geographical and climatological charac- 
teristics. 

Its western portion is almost cut in two, from north 
to south by a series of straits, inlets and sounds, deep 
and capacious enough to hold the shipping of the 



ARMY LIFE. 499 

world. Many persons are firm in the belief that some- 
where in this Puget Sound region the future great com- 
mercial emporium of the Pacific Coast will be located. 
The modest little town of Tacoma, the present terminus 
of the Northern Pacific Railroad, is ambitious of this 
distinction. Portland, Oregon^ however, has so many 
natural advantages, and such a great start over all 
other competitors in this line north of San Francisco, 
that she will doubtless continue to be the big sponge 
that will absorb nearly all the trade of the Great North- 
west. 

The western is smaller than the eastern part of 
Washington Territory. It is densely timbered with 
cedar, fir, and most of the other trees described as 
common to the Oregon Coast. It has but few prai- 
ries — the highest of them being sandy and gravelly. 
The soil in the river bottoms is mostly alluvial, rich 
and productive. The scarcity of good agricultural 
prairie land, and the abundance of the finest timber in 
the world, together with the bountiful supply of salmon 
and other fish, will for many years make this region 
essentially a lumbering, ship-building and fishing coun- 
try. The best salmon fisheries are on the Columbia 
River^ which divides the Territory from the State of 
Oregon. 

The western portion of the Territory has a very uni- 
form climate, that part of it lying between the Sound 
and the ocean being like the coast climate of Oregon. 
The district immediately east of the Sound is, of course, 
not so windy as the more western part. The climate 
may be characterized as uniform, mild, humid and 
healthy. 



500 JOURNAL OF 

The eastern division of the Territory is similar to 
Eastern Oregon, but being, of course, somewhat colder 
in winter, on account of its more northern latitude. It 
is traversed by many noble streams, which empty their 
crystal waters into the Columbia. Although grazing 
and farmingr will be carried on to a considerable extent 
in this part of Washington Territory, yet her mineral 
wealth must continue, as heretofore, to attract the 
greatest attention. 

It is rather a difficult task to compare the northwest 
with the southwest, because of the great diversity of 
climate in the former. I do not mean chano-eable cli- 
mate. On the contrary, it is far more uniform than 
the latter; but a series of local cHmates, depending 
upon a variety of causes, such as latitude, longitude, 
altitude, the relative situation and proximity of each 
place to the Pacific ocean, to the mountain ranges, to 
the mountain gorges, which allow the oceanic atmos- 
phere to pass into the valleys beyond, to the points of 
the compass — whether its sloping lands face the north- 
west, or the warmer southwest winds, and to various 
other circumstances too numerous to be mentioned. 

Although in describing the northwest, I first divided 
up its more southern part (Oregon) into three topo- 
graphical and climatographical districts^ it has been 
found impossible by this method to give more than an 
approximate idea of the whole. Whilst the descrip- 
tion embraces the principal characteristics of topo- 
graphy and climate, in regard to the coast and East- 
ern Oregon sections, it falls short in respect to the 
great valley region between these two districts ; for 
the reason that there are lying south of the Willamette 



ARMY Llf'E.^ 



501 



Valley, the Umpqua and Rogue River Valleys, which 
though possessing many of the features of the first, are 
yet in some points very different. They are, of course, 
milder and dryer, and capable of producing some kinds 
of fruits and vegetables that do not thrive well in the 
more northern valley, especially peaches and grapes. 

In order to facilitate the comparison between the 
southwest and northwest, I have, in the description of 
the various sections of the latter, omitted some of the 
most important features, because they are common to 
the whole region, and can, therefore, be the better de- 
scribed in an antithetical analysis of the two countries. 
Having already pointed out some of the contrasts in 
topography, I shall now allude to a few in climate. 

The northwest has fewer and less destructive wind 
storms than the southwest, and no frightful hurricanes, 
which are so common in all parts of the western and 
southwestern States and Territories, where their 
courses are marked by the prostration of trees and 
hamlets — whirling the former in the air like so many 
straws. This destruction would be more marked if 
that region contained more forests, or habitations. 
What fearful catastrophies must result when all that 
beautiful section shall have been densely populated, 
with laro^e cities scattered here and there, as centers 
of commerce and civilization. This is no overdrawn 
picture of the imagination, for hardly a year rolls over 
our heads that we do not read of the havoc of these 
western tornadoes. 

From careful observations made by the Govern- 
ment, it is found that during the last twenty-five years 
only three storms of a velocity of forty-five miles an 



502 JOURNAL OF 

hour, have visited the northwest coast ; whereas, in 
the old northwest, east of the Rocky mountains, such 
winds have been frequent, and sometimes reaching the 
terrible velocity of ninety-five miles an hour. Fur- 
ther, the southwest is subject to what is known as the 
"northers," or cold blasts of wind springing up sud- 
denly from the north or northwest, sending the ther- 
mometer in a few hours from a summer temperature 
of 75° down almost to zero. Woe to the traveler on 
the prairies, if caught unprepared in such an emer- 
gency. Occasionally Government expeditions have 
been crippled by the loss of their mules and horses, 
from exposure to these chilling winds. 

Captain R, B. Marcy, U. S. Army, on returning from 
his Sante Fe expedition in 1849, experienced one of 
them just before reaching the frontier settlements of 
Texas, with a loss of many of his animals. 

In the vicinity of Fort Arbuckle, located on Wild 
Horse Creek, a tributary of the False Washita River, 
in the Indian Territory, these "northers" occasionally 
appear, but not so often nor so severely as on the plains 
further to the southwest. However, on the 15th of 
March, 1854, we there witnessed a very hard one, the 
temperature falling in a few hours from 76° to 15°, 
owing to a sudden veering of the wind from the south 
to the northwest. These rapid changes of tempera- 
ture in the southwest are more frequent in the latter 
part of autumn and the beginning of spring. 

In Washington Territory and Oregon, a change in 
winter of the wind from south to north will cool the 
atmosphere considerably, but by no means to such an 
extreme as follows a similar variation of the wind in 



ARMY LIFE. 503 

the southwest. The latter country is visited by fre- 
quent thunder storms, occurring mostly in midsummer. 
In that portion of the northwest lying between the 
Cascade range of mountains and the Ocean, thunder is 
rarely heard, and generally in the latter part of spring. 
In the section east of said range of mountains it is a 
little more common, but nothing like so frequent as in 
the Indian Territory and Western Texas. 

Such a thing as sultry weather (hot and humid) is 
unknown in the northwest. In the southwest it is 
quite common, relaxing both body and mind, so as to 
unfit one, for the time being, for energetic employment 
of any kind, unless it be to fight off the numerous hor- 
rid insects and reptiles that infest the latter country, 
such as flies, mosquitoes, gnats, beetles, woodticks, tar- 
antulas, scorpions, centipedes, three varieties of the 
rattlesnake, the ground, black and diamond cotton- 
mouthed moccasins — which are even more poisonous 
than the rattlesnake — copper-heads, adders, lizards, 
toads, and horned frogs, the latter being the only real 
innocent creatures of the whole list. This interesting 
reptile receives its name from the fact of having a horn 
protruding from the center of its head. It can live on 
air alone for a long time. I saw one kept in a bottle, 
with no water or food, for six months, without show- 
ing any evidence of diminished vitality. The most of 
the hideous reptiles just mentioned infest every part of 
the southwest. If the traveler lay his wearied head 
upon the grassy prairie, he often finds, on awakening 
in the morning, a centipede or tarantula in his boot, or 
a copper-head or rattlesnake nestled close by, if not 
beneath his blanket. The two former are almost as 
venomous as the latter. 



504 JOURNAL OF 

The northwest is almost entirely free from these 
torments of the earth, having none of them, excepting 
flies, gnats, a few mosquitoes, and a very small num- 
ber of rattlesnakes. I have only seen one of the latter 
since my first arrival. Whilst, during the summer sea- 
son, in the southwest, one tosses restlessly and almost 
sleeplessly on his couch, wet with the sweaty drip- 
pings from his parboiled body, and rises in the morn- 
ing more dead than alive from a want of a proper pro- 
portion of quiet, refreshing sleep, the lucky inhabitants 
of the northwest passes the night beneath a blanket, in 
a state of the most perfect security of body and mind, 
and awakes the next day with his muscles and brain 
elastic and vigorous, because the nights are always re- 
freshingly cool and pleasant. Although our nights are 
always pleasantly cool, it will be seen, by reference to 
the annexed meteorological tables, that we sometimes 
have very hot days during summer in the Willamette 
Valley, and even hotter in Eastern Oregon; but, then, 
owing to the dryness of the air, the same degree of 
heat is not so oppressive here as in the southwest. 
Any one having doubts upon this subject will find, on 
consulting the annexed tables, how little rain falls dur- 
ing this part of the year in this country, and ought to 
know how much greater heat appears in a humid than 
in a dry atmosphere. If he does not, let him try the 
experiment for himself in a room with and without 
moisture. To the very few who may not understand 
the philosophy of this difference, I would simply state, 
that evaporation of the perspiration on the surface of 
the body has a tendency to keep the latter cool, and, 
that this process, other things being equal, goes on the 



ARMY LIFE. 



505 



better in a dry atmosphere, and that it is checked in 
exact proportion to the humidity of the air. 

In the northwest we have from six to eight months 
tolerably dry weather, and from four to six decidedly 
moist. Whilst, then, the summers are delightfully 
pleasant, the winters, especially on the coast and in 
the Willamette Valley, are often dismal and gloomy. 
Many persons are so organized as not to be able to 
stand this kind of weather without a murmur; but, 
nine tenths of the people who remain here long enough 
to overcome their homesickness for the country left 
behind, prefer this kind of weather to a clear, cold at- 
mosphere, with snow on the ground. Although fond 
of skating, and the merry jingle of sleigh bells, still I 
have learned to prefer the comparatively mild rainy 
weather to cold days, whether clear or snowy. 

I have already stated, that although the climate of 
the Willamette Valley is generally mild in winter, yet 
there are, occasionally, spells of very cold or exceed- 
ingly snowy weather; so that our winters are not al- 
ways like the one of 1872, when the coldest day 
caused the thermometer to sink to but 22° above zero. 
On the coast the temperature is rarely below 30° in 
winter, or above 22° in summer. Many persons might 
prefer the winters of the southwest, which are cer- 
tainly dryer, and not any cooler than in the milder 
climatic district of Oregon, but have no advantage, in 
these respects, to Eastern Oregon and Washington 
Territory. 

In regard to healthfulness, there can be no difference 
of opinion as to the northwest coast, being far more 
salubrious than the southwest. In fact, it has been 



506 JOURNAL OF 

proven by the Government Report of the mortaUty of 
the various States in the Union, that the Territory of 
Washington and the State of Oregon, are, by far, the 
most healthful sections of the United States. 

Whilst the death-rate in Vermont, the healthiest 
State east of the Rocky mountains, is one in ninety- 
two, it is only one in one hundred and seventy-two in 
Oregon, and one in two hundred and twenty-eight in 
Washington Territory. Making due allowance for the 
effects naturally arising from the larger and more 
crowded cities in the east, still the advantage is vastly 
in favor of the northwest coast. 

To the mind of the medical philosopher, the reason 
of this great dissimilarity in point of healthfulness is 
perfectly self-evident. Especially so, as it bears upon 
the comparative salubriousness of the two great regions 
directly under review, as both of them are nearly equal 
in population, size of towns and cities. As might be 
easily inferred from the geological, topographical and 
climatological characteristics of the southwest, with 
her rich soil, almost level surface, sluggish streams — 
many of which dry up in summer — frequent showers in 
the latter parts of spring and autumn, and hot atmos- 
phere, there must of necessity be a vast amount of 
malaria generated, thus rendering the air poisonous to 
an extreme degree. In Oregon and Washington Ter- 
ritory many of these conditions are wanting. The 
whole aspect of the country is more mountainous ; the 
streams come dashing from the mountain sides as cold, 
pure and clear as the melting snows can make them ; 
the pure and almost steady breeze from the ocean, 
not only equalizes the local temperature, by lowering 



AJ?MY LIFE. 



507 



it in summer and elevating it in winter, but carries off 
the unhealthy exhalations from the soil almost as fast 
as generated. The surface of the ground is not cov- 
ered in the autumn with any very large quantity of 
decaying vegetable matter, as the majority of our trees 
are evergreens, and the wild grasses are moderately 
short. As soon as decay begins in the latter, a new 
crop springs up, imbibing as its food the gases result- 
ing from the decomposition of the previous production, 
thus purifying the atmosphere. Still, malarious or mi- 
asmatic fevers do prevail to some extent along the 
banks of the Willamette River and some of its tribu- 
taries, and in the low alluvial bottoms of a small ex- 
tent of the noble Columbia. The coast, however, is 
perfectly free from all such fevers. 

During a year's residence at Fort Orford, located in 
the latter district, I did not see a sinofle case of anv of 
the numerous varieties of these diseases, except in a 
secondary form, that is, occurring in persons who had 
been ill with the complaint before arriving there, or 
who had imbibed the poison somewhere else. The 
slight cases of miasmatic fevers prevalent in Oregon, 
are quite amenable to treatment. There are but few 
of its severe remittent or congestive types. 

During the four years of my residence at Fort Yam- 
hill, located on the south fork of the Yamhill River, a 
tributary of the Willamette, and, consequently, in the 
Willamette V^alley, I saw hardly any of these fevers. 
At Portland, Oregon, they are of more frequent oc- 
currence. But even here they are rare and mild, in 
comparison with the same affections in the vicinity of 
Fort Arbuckle, in the Indian Territory. With the sin- 



508 JOURNAL OF 

gle exception of myself, I never saw a person who had 
lived in that country four years, who had not had the 
intermittent, remittent or typho-malarial fever so often 
as to render him or her sufficiently debilitated to re- 
quire a change of climate for the recuperation of 
health. 

As may be seen by reference to the sanitary reports 
from the various military stations in that country, the 
same unhealthfulness obtains in the whole region until 
the dry and sandy plains are reached. Notwithstand- 
ing the great prevalence of malarious fevers in the 
southwest, the general mortality, except at epidemic 
periods, is small, owing mainly to the fact that experi- 
enced physicians have the power to control them with 
more promptness and certainty than any other class of 
maladies in the nosology. Perhaps the most fatal dis- 
ease of all in that country is the "winter fever," a com- 
bination of typho-malarial fever and pneumonia. 
When epidemic, which is the case every few years, it 
sweeps off hundreds of the Indians and frontiersmen. 
The great mortality, however, is mainly owing to the 
irrational mode of treating it by many of the unedu- 
cated physicians of the country, upon the old antiphlo- 
gistic plan of depletion by blood-letting, purgatives 
and emetics, instead of by tonics, stimulants, etc. 

Aside from the gloomy, dismal character of the long- 
continued cloudy and rainy weather of winter in West- 
ern Oregon and Washington Territory, there is noth- 
ing in a hygienic point of view objectionable in this 
season, for the temperature is rarely disagreeable, is 
pretty uniform, and the rains wash off a vast deal of 
filth and other unhealthy deposits, which accumulate 



AJ^MV LIFE. 509 

during the summer, especially in the larger towns. 
This is preeminently the case in the city of Portland, 
the commercial emporium of Oregon. The miasmatic 
exhalations arising from the filthy back-yards and 
hovels of the Chinese quarters, would decimate the 
population of the city annually, if it were not for the 
thorough washing and cleansing those places receive 
from nature every rainy season. 

With the exception of the greater prevalence in the 
southwest of the malarial fevers, and their multifarious 
complications of other diseases, I do not know but what 
it will compare favorably with the northwest in point 
of healthfulness. A majority of the usual complaints 
that inflict poor, perishing humanity in temperate lati- 
tudes, are found in both regions, but presenting modifi- 
cations in accordance with particular local climates. 
The latter country can, however, thus far boast over 
the former in not experiencing the Asiatic cholera. 
This fearful complaint, at one time, even came as far 
as California, but did not reach the northwest. Yet, 
we cannot hope for an entire immunity. 

There is one disease — yellow fever — that occasion- 
ally inflicts a portion of the southwest, that can, in all 
human probability, never find its way into this part of 
the United States. 

In the early spring of 1852, the scurvy made its ap- 
pearance among the troops at Fort Arbuckle, in the 
Indian Territory, owing to the want of sufficient fresh 
meats, vegetables and fruits in the commissary depart- 
ment. It being too early for garden vegetables, by 
my recomm.endation the whole neighborhood was 
searched in order to obtain wild onions, which were 



5IO JOURNAL OF 

issued to the command in every conceivable shape and 
mode, as both food and medicine, with the most happy 
effects. 

In explanation of the annexed meteorological table, 
it is necessary to state that the places designated where 
observations were made, are selected because of their 
representative character for each section or district, 
thus: Fort Orford and Astoria for the Oregon Coast, 
Fort Yamhill and Portland for the Willamette Valley, 
Forts Dalles and Walla Walla for Eastern Oregon and 
Washington Territory, Fort Steilacoom for the west- 
ern part of the latter Territory, Forts Arbuckle, Chad- 
bourne and Lancaster for the southwest. Although 
some of these observations were made between the 
years 1855 and 1859, they give as fair an idea of the 
climate as any later dates could possibly do. Some of 
the observations presented were made under my own 
supervision, and all by competent and reliable Govern- 
ment officers. 

The rainfall at Fort Orford for the year 1855 of 
83.40 inches, and at Astoria, in 1 871, of 93.04 inches 
seems large, but there is no doubt as to the correct- 
ness of the observations. In this connection it may 
not be out of place to relate a little incident that oc- 
curred when I was stationed at Fort Arbuckle, in the 
year 185 1. There chanced one night to be a very 
heavy rain for that section of country. The weather, 
that ever fruitful topic of conversation, being under 
discussion the following morning, some one inquired 
of me how much rain had fallen the previous twenty- 
four hours. I remarked "an inch and a half." 

" Pshaw ! " replied an old Pike, standing near, "your 



AJiMY LIFE, ' 511 

tarnal thing must have leaked, for I put my bran-new 
boot outside the wagon on going to sleep last night, 
and when I got up this morning it was chuck full, and 
I know my boot is one foot long and two high, which 
would make three feet." 

It is, perhaps, needless to add that the rain-gauge in 
use at Fort Orford and Astoria was not a boot. 



HK264-78 




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